CULTURAL GROUP:
Kwakwaka'wakw

BORN:
June 14, 1960

BIRTHPLACE:
Campbell River, BC

Dwayne Simeon is mostly self-taught. He learned blacksmithing as a teenager, and then began experimenting with carving. In his twenties, Dwayne apprenticed under Kwakwaka'wakw artist Tony Hunt and adopted Kwakwaka'wakw artist John Livingstone. He was inspired to work as a professional artist by Sam Henderson at Campbell River, BC. In 1981, Dwayne learned jewellery-making at the Vancouver Vocational Institute and silkscreen production with Philip Oppenheimer at the Vancouver Indian Centre. Carving wood is still Dwayne's focus, and he performed a demonstration of his carving techniques at Expo ’86 for the Folk Life Programs. He was a guest lecturer on Native American aesthetics at Muhlenberg University in Pennsylvania in April of 1987. Dwayne is known in the market for his colourful and traditional Kwakwaka'wakw masks.