Franklin Matchian cannot wait to get to Tucson for the gem show season, although strictly speaking that’s not his primary purpose.
Matchian is coming from Anchorage, Alaska and he wants to warm up. He also wants to show his artwork at the American Indian Arts Exposition slated to begin at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 26. The show is open daily until Sunday, Feb. 15, at The Ranch, 2830 S. Thrasher Avenue.
Among the more than 400 vendors representing 50 tribal nations expect to see baskets, beadwork, jewelry and miniatures, all made by First Nation craftspeople and artists, and that’s just a partial list.
It’s hard to pin down what exactly Matchian’s medium is; you might call him a jack-of-all-trades artist. Even he has trouble coming up with a label, though carver works for him.
“A basketmaker, yes, and I do, wow, I just do about anything,” he said. “Long story short, I even (carved out of ivory) the Mona Lisa in 3D down to detail. My artistic limits are limitless.”
So, what does Matchian do mostly? He carves likenesses, he said.
“They are extremely hard to do and I try to be very unique in that it transcends not only to Alaska but to worldwide that people can recognize.”
Matchian is of the Cup’ik Eskimo Tribe. His great-grandfather was a medicine man and his father’s father was a nukalpiaq (great hunter). He said he comes from a line of carvers, which is where he got his interest and talent, and that is what he is bringing to the show.
“I use everything from native materials like ivory and baleen and I also use paint, I do a little bit of painting,” he said.
Does he have a favorite material?
“If I did it probably would be ivory,” he said.
The problem, however, is that ivory cannot travel the world.
“The newer ivory is after 1972, anybody can own that but it has to be carved,” Matchian said. “The pre-1972 is a more valuable ivory that can be owned by anybody within the states.”
Some countries do not allow ivory in so he sometimes works with fossils he finds and salmon skin, both of which can go all over the world.
In fact, Matchian loves to hunt fossils and collect them.
“I’ve got one very rare musk ox fossil and a pair of musk ox skulls that I’m bringing,” he said. They’re from the ice age, he added.
Matchian is also bringing something truly magnificent: a taluyaruaq (fishing basket), which took him more than a year to complete. Part of what took so long was sourcing materials. You can’t go to Michael’s and get whale sinew. Plus it requires some quick handling.
“Oh my goodness, that is a very, very tough lost art,” he said. “Nationwide and in Alaska they don’t have a use for the sinew anymore because we have the modern clothing… It took me over three months to find that sinew. I was looking from north to south.”
He finally found a person who had kept it in her family.
Then there’s the weaving technique.
“Here’s something very unique about that basket,” Matchian said. “This basket is the only known basket to be woven with what I call tension weaving. What it is is when you use the sinew you’ve got to soak it in water to make it very pliable. Then, when you dry it you’ve only got about five minutes or less before it becomes hard and not be able to use it.”
Finally he had to figure out a way to handle baleen, a keratin substance that baleen whales grow as part of their filtering system.
“I used a little bit of fire to get it to a boiling point, then bend it very slightly,” he said.
He also soaked it in water.
It’s clear Matchian has a fertile mind. Talk with him just a bit and you discover something new, like the fact that he is going to be carving on a slice of petrified wood.
“That will probably be the first of its kind native-wise because I haven’t seen it anywhere and it will probably be done for the first time,” he said.
The American Indian Arts Exposition
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily from Monday, Jan. 26., until Sunday, Feb. 15
WHERE: The Ranch, 2830 S. Thrasher Avenue.
COST: Free to enter though a donation to a scholarship fund is appreciated
INFO: usaindianinfo.com