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Where Art & Community Meet
Odin Lonning
Artist Statement
As a traditional Tlingit artist, I create pieces that sustain a legacy of totemic sculpture and two-dimensional design. My work illustrates stories and depicts myriad crest animals that represent clan histories and identities.
Since time immemorial, First Nations have maintained a sacred covenant with the natural world. Native values and Indigenous wisdom now command more attention from a planet rapidly losing biological and cultural diversity. I have found it increasingly urgent to articulate these truths through my artwork.
Artist Bio
Artist Medium(s)
Native Art
Artist Links
ODIN LONNING (Tlingit name Sh�now Taan) is an award-winning, professional Indigenous artist, master carver, and heritage specialist from Juneau, Alaska. He is Woosh Ke Taan (Eagle/Shark) Clan through his Tlingit mother, and is named after his Norwegian father. At age ten, Odin was moved to explore Tlingit art when he saw his first traditional dance performance. Local Tlingit artists, culture centers, and museums in Southeast Alaska inspired him. Seeking a deeper understanding of the culture essential to his artwork, he learned Tlingit dances and songs. Odin became a cultural educator and now has decades of experience. He shares his expertise through classes, art demonstrations, exhibits, and performances for Indigenous students and diverse audiences of all ages.
In the mid-1970s, the Juneau Centennial Committee, Juneau School District, Goldbelt Corporation, and Sealaska Corporation commissioned works by Odin for permanent display. In 1989, he attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He won multiple awards in art shows throughout the Western US. Since 2000, Odin has carved totem poles and house posts for clients in Seattle, Chicago, Portland, and Paris. In 2005, he completed a ten-foot Killer Whale and Thunderbird totem for Everett Community College. In 2007, a seven-foot long carved, painted panel, titled �Killer Whale Pod of Many Nations,� was dedicated at the Seattle Aquarium. The Puyallup Tribe�s Emerald Queen Casino commissioned Odin in 2009 to create four panels depicting spuylapab? (Puyallup) stories. In 2014�2016, Christ Our Hope Parish commissioned him to create two eleven-foot-tall totems and three carved bird heads for the historic Josephinum building in Seattle. In 2020, Odin painted four 32-inch square panels for a public outdoor mural project at Open Space for Arts and Community on Vashon. In addition to working on private commissions, in 2022 he taught an art class for adults, and in 2023 he conducted his fourth Vashon Artists in Schools residency and mentored a youth mural project for Open Space.
Odin�s 2-D and 3-D works in traditional and contemporary media include: carved totem poles, boxes, wall panels, masks, paddles, and bowls; painted original designs on drums, canvas, paper, and hardwood; jewelry design; appliqu� and leather regalia.