Current Projects

“Yukon Ggaał” is an oil painting of my aunt cutting a king salmon at our Yukon River fish camp in Interior Alaska. Ggaał is the Koyukon Athabascan word for king salmon, which are an integral part of our Athabascan traditions and culture. However, because of the drastic decline in the salmon population, there have been extreme limits on subsistence fishing on the Yukon. This is devastating for our ability to continue practicing our traditions and is incredibly harmful for communities on the river who rely on subsistence fishing for food security. For these reasons, this painting is very meaningful to me. I placed lots of care into this painting, and treated the process with a similar respect to how we treat our salmon process. Additionally, the beautiful colors and textures of salmon have been so fun and exciting to paint, and this project has been a great way to develop my skills!

“Yukon Ggaał” is completed, and giclee prints are currently being made at the print shop. I am selling them and 5% of the profit will be donated to the Salmon Distaster/Distribution fund.