Artist Profile: Gabrielle Hammock

Gabrielle Hammock is a Shee Atiká shareholder from Mount Rainier High School and Highline College in Des Moines, WA. She is daughter to Roy Hammock III and granddaughter to Roy Hammock Jr from Sitka, AK. Gabrielle is a self-taught Tlingit artist pursuing art as a career. ~ from the Shee Atiká, Inc. April 2024 newsletter, which recognized Gabrielle as the winner of their 2024 logo design contest. Read about what Gabbi Raven has to say about herself and her art:

About me, the artist

My name is Gabrielle Hammock. I am a 17-year-old artist from Des Moines, Washington where I attend High School and Community College. I will be going into my senior year this fall (2024) and intend to apply to art schools with the goal to get a 4-year degree or higher in fine arts.

My family is originally from Sitka, Alaska and are descendants of the Raven Frog clan, Tlingit. That is where I get my middle name “Raven” from. My dad named me after our native folklore of how Raven brought the light back to the world. That story has always stuck with me and been a sense of inspiration in my life, along with my dad who inspired me to take up drawing and taught me so much. Like Raven, I want to bring light to the world, give back to the people in my community and many more through art. I hope to bring honor and light to my ancestors through this piece that represents how we are all connected to those before and after us. Thank you for the opportunity to share my light.

About the art

When sketching out this design (for Sheet’ká IPD) I was thinking about how to connect the generations. I thought back to the Shee Atiká celebration this past month and remembered the dancers and their blankets. Along with how other family members seemed to share similar designs.

To start off, the big figure in the back with the Orca/Whale helmet is to represent an ancestor, with the blanket covering or surrounding the other figures. The next level (the parents, representing the “us” in the theme) is to represent traditions being passed down, as their blankets are a part of their ancestors. The smallest figure represents the youth or the “future.” The child doesn’t yet have the same blanket the rest of the figures share but is still surrounded and wrapped up in the connection between generations. The child opening the raven box symbolizes learning and being exposed to the culture.

There are elements hinting at different tribes like the Orca for Haida and Raven for Tlingit. Along with traditional colors in the blankets which keep the contrast between the bright red and the prominent black figure. It also helps with the black and white version.

You can find more work by me on my instagram, @gabbiravens_art

~ Gabrielle Hammock