Name:
Ken Mowatt (1944 – )
Gender:
Male
Style:
Gitxsan
Region:
Pacific Northwest Coast, Canada
Ken Mowatt was born in Hazelton, British Columbia in 1944. He is Frog crest from the house of Djokaslee. He enrolled in the Kitanmax School on Northwest Coast Indian Art in Hazelton, graduating in 1971. His instructors included Earl Muldoe, Walter Harris and Vernon Stephens. He also studied jewelry making with Jack Leyland in 1975, and watercolour painting with Ron Burleigh in 1978. Ken Mowatt’s crest is Frog. He works in diverse art forms including limited edition prints, original paintings in oils, drums, jewelry, cedar poles, masks, rattles, and sculptures. He is a master carver who began his career at the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Design in 1970, where he also later taught. Ken studied jewelry-making with Jack Leyland in 1975, and watercolour painting with Ron Burleigh in 1978. In 2004, Ken was asked to illustrate the children’s book Returning the Feathers, which is based on five famous Gitksan legends. He also provided the design for the Weget Legends publication. Ken has years of formal training in traditional Gitksan art, but he is known as one of the most creative and experimental First Nations artists working today. Many of his works contain surreal and abstract elements, and his impressive attention to detail is incredibly distinctive.
