Wall panels are popular within the Northwest Coast Indigenous art market, but they are a contemporary art form. Bentwood boxes, poles, and masks have long been created for both cultural and artistic purposes, but decorative panels only began emerging in the 1990s. One explanation for this lies in the fact that paintings on paper and canvas, which are pervasive in conventional art galleries, are not common within the Northwest Coast market. Carved and painted panels are a fusion of traditions: wall-mounted compositions created through carving.
