Phillip Charette

Biographical Information

Tribal Affiliation: Yup'ik

"I am an emerging Alaskan Native Yup'ik artist specializing in Yup'ik masks, drums and Native American flutes. Through a hands-on investigative and exploratory approach, I seek to express the spiritual strength and power of my culture - historic and traditional - in relation to today's rapidly changing multicultural society.

In the spirit and tradition of Yup'ik mask making, I focus on the spiritual "gifts" (common to all beings) that traditional Yup'ik culture embrace and express through its art. I achieve my goals through a constant exploration and discovery of new methodologies, mixed media materials, and overcoming technical cultural challenges in my artwork. As an educator and artist, I strive to facilitate and maximize the flow of artistic and creative ideas in whatever artistic environment I find myself - I have been and always will be a teacher. In the ongoing process of doing art, I constantly research traditional and contemporary Yup'ik ways of being and knowing giving me a better contextual framework and foundation to base my work upon the philosophy of my work, which is quite humanistic and, at the same time, brings me back to my culture. The voice of my work continually evolves reflecting changes in the world around us. It is a voice that is unique, loud, soft, subtle, and sometimes it is silent. I know and appreciate my individual voice as an artist and enjoy sharing that unique voice with those willing to listen; it has and continues to be extremely rewarding.

I have established a lifelong commitment toward artistic exploration and expression, education, excellence and quality of form and feature, and am focused as an artist. Within a wider contextual framework of life, I continually strive to make significant contributions to the larger knowledge and cultural base of humanity. And, I deeply enjoy the creative process, boldly expressing my ideas, and being a contemporary / traditional artist. I have and continue to find fulfillment in the healing and thought provoking qualities of my work."

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