Joe Hillaire (1894-1967) was a storyteller and artist whose carved totems, or story poles, made the oral traditions of his Lummi tribe visible. His great grandson, Dan Friday, continues the tradition of storytelling in his totems made of furnace-sculpted and blown glass. Preston Singletary had learned about his Tlingit heritage through his great-grandmother but was deep into glassmaking before he had the idea to incorporate Tlingit design and stories in his work. Raven Skyriver is also Tlingit and grew up on a small island in the San Juans of Washington state. Spooner Marcus is from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo south of Taos, New Mexico, and incorporates pueblo pottery designs and styles into his glass art.

Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Raven’s Eagle Hat, blown and sand-carved glass, 21½ x 6 x 7"

 

The four studio glass artists will participate in the exhibition Continuum: Contemporary Native Perspectives through Glass at Blue Rain Gallery in Durango, Colorado, June 4 through 26.

Leah Garcia, the gallery’s director of marketing, says, “As a reflection of tradition and innovation, Native glass art at Blue Rain Gallery embodies the resilience and creativity of Indigenous storytelling. Artists like Preston Singletary, Dan Friday, Raven Skyriver and Spooner Marcus push the boundaries of glass, transforming molten material into vessels of culture, memory and spirit. Each piece is a testament to the deep connection between heritage and contemporary expression, honoring the past while shaping the future of Native art.”

Dan Friday (Lummi), Full Circle Totem, furnace-sculpted and blown glass, 25 x 7½"

 

Raven Skyriver (Tlingit), Abuela, hand-sculpted glass, 6¼ x 7 x 11½"

 

The generational continuum of Indigenous artists results in the preservation of forms and designs of utilitarian objects as well as innovations in design and materials like glass. Singletary fashions boxes, hats and ladles and tells stories in free-standing sculptures and totems. Raven’s Eagle Hat represents the two main moieties of the Tlingit people: Raven, the trickster who brought light to the world, and Eagle, the spiritual messenger symbolizing power, strength and leadership. Singletary says, “It wasn’t until I started incorporating Tlingit designs and stories—drawing from my lineage in the Eagle moiety, Kaagwaantaan Box House, Killer Whale clan—that my work took on a deeper sense of purpose. This artistic transformation allowed me to merge ancestral storytelling with a modern medium, giving voice to both my culture and my artistic vision.” 

 

 

Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Land Otters on the River, blown and sand-carved glass, 32½ x 7 x 4"

 

Having been brought up on an island, Skyriver says, “My work is almost exclusively derived from the marine ecosystem. I attempt to place the creatures back in their environment by capturing the fluid nature in molten glass and transferring it into the perceived weightlessness of a swimming creature. I always strive to imbue the work with a hint of life.”

His sculpture Abuela (Grandmother), in hand-sculpted and hand-carved glass, presents Mother Earth, longevity and peace. The turtle is a fixture of the creation stories of many North American tribes.

Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo) and Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Untitled, blown and sand carved glass, 14 x 10 x 5"

 

Spooner Marcus (Ohkay Owingeh), assorted vessels, blown glass

Friday’s sculpture derives from his ancestral Lummi culture. Although his great-grandfather was a renowned totem carver, he seemed destined to follow in his father’s footsteps as an auto mechanic. However, he says, “When I saw glass blowing for the first time, it felt as though I grew an inch! That is to say, a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I had finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up. This was no small feat for someone who, as a youth, was rebellious and misguided. Glass altered my life. In spite of my colorful past, and by the grace of a loving community, I found my passion in glass.”

In pieces like Full Circle Totem he explores the circle of life with a bear catching a salmon and producing fertilizer for the tree, which provides habitat for the bear. He says, “I want to bring my ancestors forward and the story of our people. I’m thinking about the best way that glass can represent my idea.” 

Spooner Marcus (Ohkay Owingeh), White Buffalo, blown and sculpted glass, 9 x 8 x 4"

 

Marcus is inspired by pueblo pottery traditions and draws from Ohkay Owingeh forms and designs as he experiments with glassmaking techniques. In some of his vessels he uses what he calls a “printing technique” in which he presses a piece of found metal into the still-forming glass. The metal forms a depression which he then fills with powder. Although he began making glass that resembled traditional pottery, his recent work is colorful and painterly, employing the translucency and transparency of the medium capturing, in a way, the story of its creation. —

Blue Rain Gallery
June 4-26, 2025
934 Main Avenue, Unit B, Durango, CO 81301 (970) 232-2033, www.blueraingallery.com

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