Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
Skye, Ken |
Notes |
Ken Skye Onondaga Nation Turtle Clan 1945 - 1999 Ken Skye was from Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario. While he was proficient in the construction of cow horn rattles and produced soap stone pipes, he is best known for his no-face cornhusk dolls. Together with his wife Rhea, Ken learned this art from his grandmother Mary Skye around 1964. Five years later the couple began experimenting with using wire in their creations, a technique that enabled the dolls to be portrayed in animated postures. Hoop, eagle, and buffalo dancers, western drum singers, hunters, and lacrosse players figure prominently in their repertoire. The larger dolls feature a wrapped husk technique, while smaller ones are often braided. Most of the dolls are outfitted in leather with those depicting hunting activities sometimes featuring soapstone arrowheads made by Ken. Less often, the couple constructed apple face dolls on a cornhusk foundation. More ambitious projects include multi-figure dioramas portraying lacrosse games or a historic Iroquois village complete with a miniature longhouse. At the height of their careers Ken and Rhea made dolls full time, marketing their work at powwows, fairs, and craft shows and stocking specialty gift shops. The couple demonstrated their skills at the Roberson Museum (Binghamton, NY) and exhibited at many regional venues including at the Everson Museum (Syracuse, NY, 1972); Erie County Fair & Exposition (Buffalo, NY, 1973); Artpark (Lewiston, NY, 1977, 1978); and events at Haudenosaunee communities such as Mohawk Nation Akwesasne, Seneca Nation Allegany, Six Nations Reserve, and the Tuscarora Nation. Ken and Rhea received 1st place award recognition for their dolls at the Six Nations Fall Fair and Calendonia Fair (Ontario, Canada, 1968). Their work is in the permanent collections of the Iroquois Museum (Howes Cave, NY); the National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian (Washington, DC); McMichael Canadian Art Museum (Vaugh, Ontario); Woodland Cultural Center (Brantford, Ontario), and the Everson Museum (Syracuse, NY). *Bio text cannot be used in print or web publications without IM permission. Use for other purposes (such as research papers, presentations) should credit the IM. |
Related Records
-
02:01 - Doll-Cornhusk
Female doll with wooden mortar and pestle style corn pounder set on wooden base. Figure dressed in blue floral dress, black skirt and leggings. Trimmed with red fabric and red and yellow seed beads. Synthetic hair and leather headband with feather.
Record Type: Object
-
04:24 - Doll-Cornhusk
Female husk doll with wooden corn pounder and mortar mounted on tree stump base. Leather moccasins, black leggings & skirt. Blue floral overdress. Leather headband with feather.
Record Type: Object
-
81:37 - Doll-Cornhusk-Action
Action figure style cornhusk doll. Deer skin breech cloth, leggings & moccasins. Left foot raised. Braided black wool hair. Red and white yarn sash belt. Fringed roach with red wool tufting and 3 white feathers hanging from roach in back. Mounted on round of birch wood.
Record Type: Object
-
82:514 - Doll-Cornhusk
Male cornhusk doll posed with old round head style lacrosse stick. Doll is constructed on wire armature. Leather arm bands with turquoise, brown and orange beads. Breech cloth, leggings, moccasins leather. Mohawk style hair style. Doll mounted on birch bark round.
Record Type: Object
-
85:129 - Doll-Cornhusk-Stand-up
Standing female cornhusk doll. Black braided yarn hair with red ties. Cornhusk dutch style cap, puffed sleeves on dress.
Record Type: Object
-
87:34 - Doll-Cornhusk-Action
Male cornhusk doll. Black yarn hair, leather headband, breech cloth and moccasins. Blue and red yarn sash. Figure holds large tomahawk with red yarn wrapping around handle. Mounted on wooden base.
Record Type: Object
-
98:23 - Doll - Cornhusk
Standing female cornhusk doll dressed in traditional-styled fabric clothing. Figure holds a hoop and a fan like those used in powwow dancing and is mounted on a square block of wood.
Record Type: Object
-
98:24 - Doll - Cornhusk
Standing male cornhusk doll figure holding a lacrosse stick. Fabric clothing, wooden stick. Mounted on a square wooden base.
Record Type: Object
