Drew Michael
Bethel and Anchorage, Alaska | Yup’ik
Artist
Drew and his twin brother were born in Bethel and raised in Eagle River, Alaska. He started carving at age 13. He learned from archeologist Bob Shaw, printmaker Joe Senungetuk, and contemporary Athabascan mask-maker, Kathleen Carlo.
Drew focuses on how masks were originally used by Yup’ik people for healing and telling stories of things unseen. His work incorporates healing practices of the Yup’ik people and religious icons of European Christianity. As an artist, he hopes to encourage people to find healing in ways that bring about balance in much the same way he uses these practices to find balance in his own life. Drew is currently living in Portland, Oregon.
