Naikun Skaana - Red Cedar Mask
Naikun Skaana - Red Cedar Mask
23" x 9 1/2" x 7"
"One of the NaiKun supernatural killerwhales was 'Hole in Fin' another was 'The End of His Fin Turned Back' two of the most powerful killerwhales residing between Cape Ball and Rose Spit.
Naikun Qiigaaway is the clan I come from, one of our crests is the Killerwhale. This mask represents 'The End of His Fin Turned Back'. There is an ancestor as the blowhole of the whale."
-Corey Bulpitt
Corey Bulpitt
CULTURAL GROUP:
Haida
BORN:
1978
BIRTHPLACE:
Prince Rupert, BC
Corey Bulpitt is from the Naikun Raven clan. In 1996, Corey graduated from Langley Fine Art School. He then apprenticed with his uncle, Haida artist Christian White, in 1999 for three years. He also worked for his uncle, Haida master carver Jim Hart, at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, BC. Corey has carved many totem poles, including a 20-foot pole for Scouts Canada, a 17-foot pole at Queen Charlotte Lodge, and a 14-foot memorial pole at the Namgis burial ground in Alert Bay, BC. He also completed a pole in New Zealand with Maori master carver Lionel Grant alongside Dempsey Bob (Tahltan/Tlingit), Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth), and Christian White (Haida). In 2008, Corey's red cedar Butterfly mask was featured in The Gathering, a calendar that highlights prominent First Nations artists working in BC. In 2012, Corey was featured in the travelling exhibition Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture curated by the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 2014, his successful solo show AKOS, which highlighted his background as a graffiti artist, was exhibited at the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver. In 2017, Corey received a BC Creative Achievement Award for Aboriginal Art.
