My pieces in this show, at this fine gallery, focused on my adaptation of formline style to graffiti immediacy. I wanted to translate what I was doing with fat markers into the refinements of the northern formline conventions.April's First Thursday, 2009, at Anka Gallery, Portland, Oregon
My pieces in this show, at this fine gallery, focused on my adaptation of formline style to graffiti immediacy. I wanted to translate what I was doing with fat markers into the refinements of the northern formline conventions.
Space, time
These reflect the fusion in my earlier works that combine formline with my even earlier floral/abstract style. Ink on paper, 2005-ish, these are about page size.
Corpus Callosum
This is a digital extrapolation of my earlier ink on paper drawing "Punctuated Equillibrium". I've always wanted to experiment with negativizing my work to see how my negative formline would actually translate. Also, I wanted to explore my abstract, visceral imagery as a "split image", where I can achieve perfect symmetry through digital imaging. The results for me were complimentary to the psychedelic nature of formline that I can't help but expound upon.Joyride
' Joyride' was the title of a group show in Ketch
ikan, Alaska, of contemporary native Alaskan artists. These two pieces of mine were featured showcasing my then formative style. They're both india ink on 1oo% cotton rag paper and are between 15 and 30 inches wide.
ikan, Alaska, of contemporary native Alaskan artists. These two pieces of mine were featured showcasing my then formative style. They're both india ink on 1oo% cotton rag paper and are between 15 and 30 inches wide. 
Medicine Buddha sign commission (2008)
This commission was for a sign for a small massage therapy office opening on NW 23rd in Portland in August of 2008. I worked closely with the business owner to achieve the original Buddha image and special color scheme that worked for him personally. The original design is in acrylic paint on 100% cotton rag.
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About Me
- Sheldon Skillie
- Portland, Oregon, United States
- I am a Haida/Lakota artist currently working in ink on paper, acrylics on canvas and paper, argillite carving, and wood relief carving. I have been drawing all my life, have studied art briefly in college, and have apprenticed under professional native Alaskan artists Norman Jackson(Tlingit) and Don Varnell(Haida). Influences on my current works vary widely, incorporating ballet-like movements taken from skateboarding, the curvilnear sculptural lines found in northwest skateparks, the distorted waveform of my favorite modern rock/jazz/punk music, of course contemporary pop art, and the refinement found in traditional northern northwest coast native art, especially Haida and Tlingit art. I was born in Mountain View, California, grew up between Seattle, Washington, and Ketchikan Alaska, eventually settling in beautiful Portland, Oregon.