Stan Hunt

Artist's Biography

Stan Hunt is a Tsakis Kwagiulth artist from Fort Rupert on Vancouver Island. A member of one of the first families of Northwest Coast carving, Stan was born in 1954. His grandfather Mungo Martin and his father Henry Hunt worked at the Royal Museum of British Columbia reviving the art that had been prohibited by the Canadian Government for nearly 70 years. Stan's brothers Richard and Tony Sr. are well known carvers who mentored him early in his career.

Stan is a member of the Hamatsa society and dances in the potlatch ceremonies for the Hunt family. In 1976, he apprenticed himself to his father, who first required him to make his own carving tools. Over the next three years, he assisted his father on six totem poles. In 1980, he and his brother Richard Hunt restored a 65-foot pole that had been created by his father for the Montreal Expo in 1967. In the fall of 1998, Stan will return to work on the pole again.

Stan carved his first totem pole in 1982 ­ a commission by author Jean Auel (The Clan of the Cave Bear and continuing series). He is equally renowned for his miniature totems and masks, and has produced limited edition prints and bronzes. Stan's interpretation of the Kwagiulth style is starkly traditional. No power tolls or sandpaper are used. Only traditional tools ­ the adze, straight knife, and curved knife ­ are utilized. The images are original but with traditional roots in the stories of the Kwagiulth people.