Ron Telek

Ron Telek apprenticed with his uncle Norman Tait while attending High School in Vancouver, and his work has been strongly influenced by him. He has also worked on numerous totem pole commissions with Tait. After graduating from High School, he attended the Art Program at Langara College in Vancouver for two years, where he studied African, Japanese and Italian sculpting techniques.

While having produced a variety of works, including wooden bowls and puppets, most of his effort is focused on the creation of masks. His masks are similar in form to those spirit masks called Nax Nox. These masks were carved to represent spiritual beings.

Ron Telek's first gallery exhibition took place in 1985. Since that time, Ron has exhibited in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria. While Nisga’a style remains a constant element in his work, he has developed a radical new imagery that deals with the psyche and the unconscious, based on shamanism and transformation.