John Hoover

A Pair of Keets

A lifelong commercial fisherman, John Hoover (Aleut) did not begin his artistic career in earnest until his late forties after the process of building a fishing boat led him to wood carving and sculpture. As is characteristic of his practice, A Pair of Keets foregrounds the interconnectedness of nature and humanity through its portrayal of two parakeets flanking a shamanistic figure endowed with both human and birdlike features. Polychromed cedar was one of the artist’s preferred mediums. This humorously titled work exemplifies Hoover’s combination of personal innovation and Northwest Coast design principles.