About this artwork
James Johnson, an artist and lifelong snowboarder, carved the wooden panel for this design with an image of Raven. In Tlingit belief, according to Johnson, Raven was light-colored in the beginning. But as the bird carried the sun in his beak through the sky, he flew across the smoke hole of a clan house and the soot turned him black, as this board depicts. Commercial products like this one allow Johnson to bring Tlingit art and culture to a global audience, and a portion of its sales were donated to building the new Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus in the artist’s hometown of Juneau, Alaska.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 161
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Department
- Arts of the Americas
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Artists
- James P. Johnson ONN-ISS-KWAH , Lib Tech (Manufacturer)
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Culture
- Tlingit
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Title
- Double Dip Model 2022-23
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Places
- Gilbert (Object designed in:), Tlingit (Artist's nationality:), Sequim (Object made in:)
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Date
- 2022-2023
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Medium
- Color screen print on polymer and bamboo
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Inscriptions
- Printed recto, bottom-middle, in image, in white ink: DOUBLE DIP / IN THE BEGINNING, RAVEN / WAS ALL WHITE. RAVEN WAS / A CREATOR, HE HAD THE / ABILITY TO TRANSFORM INTO / ANYTHING HE CHOSE TO BE. / HE STOLE TH SUN, MOON, / AND STARS AND RELEASED / THEM INTO THE SKY. WITH / THE SUN IN HIS BEAK, THE / SOOT FROM THE SMOKE-HOLE / IS WHAT TURNED RAVEN ALL / BLACK. RAVEN IS THE ONE / WHO BROUGHT LIGHT INTO / THE WORLD. // THE PIECE DEPICTS RAVEN IN / ALL BLACK FORM, JUST AFTER / HE FLEW THRU THE SMOKE- / HOLE TO RELEASE THE SUN / INTO THE SKY. / -JAMES JOHNSON James P. Johnson // MERVIN MADE USA / BNA TECH / MAGNE-TRACTION / PATENT # 7823892 #8511704".
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Dimensions
- 161 × 30.3 × 2.5 cm (63 7/16 × 11 15/16 × 1 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of James Johnson
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Reference Number
- 2023.2992
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
