Artwork copyright Dan Friday. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Russell Johnson.

Artwork copyright Dan Friday. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Alec Miller.

Full Circle Totem, 2017

Dan Friday
(American | Lummi Nation, born 1975)

Location: Getchell High School, Marysville

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Full Circle Totem is part of artist Dan Friday's series of blown-glass totems. It explore personal experiences and symbolic narratives in a simple, formal style. This totem includes a fir tree, on top of a salmon, on top of a bear. It represents the circle of life as the bear eats salmon, which creates good fertilizer for the trees, that are home to the bear.

Friday explains, “My work is a contemporary representation of my culture, as well as a totem. My grandfather was a totem carver and my grandmother a basket maker. I learned how to work with my hands from an early age.” Friday is a descendant of Xa-Tel-Ek, the Bear, also known as Frank Hillaire. The Bear can be seen throughout Friday's artworks.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Marysville School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Dan Friday (Lummi) is a Seattle-based glass artist. The themes and images of Friday’s work are often drawn from his Coast Salish heritage and are solidified in the world of glass art.

Friday studied at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Northwestern Washington, and at South Seattle Community College. He has spent the last twenty-five years creating his own work, and also working with artists such as Dale Chihuly, Paul Marioni, and Preston Singletary. He has taught at the University of Washington, Pilchuck Glass School, and the Haystack Craft Center in Maine. He is a member of the Lummi Nation.