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GLOSSARY
Just click on the letter that corresponds to the first letter in the word you are looking for
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A
abstract art – A style of painting that includes recognizable depictions of real-world objects but distorts them to enhance meaning or emotion. Some abstract art stresses elements of composition, rather than subject.
abstract expressionism – Includes a variety of painting styles that originated primarily in America toward the close of WWII. It is characteristically large scale and uses spontaneous brushwork and exploitation of accidental marks, while it attempts to convey personal, intuitive emotions and meaning. Forms range from highly abstract to completely non-representational.
accent – A distinctive feature that accentuates or complements the overall design of a work of art
acrylic – Paint composed of pigments bound by acrylic resin, a type of plastic. Acrylic paints are water-soluble before they dry.
actual texture – A texture that can be perceived through the sense of touch
adaptation – The re-casting of an existing image or artwork by an artist which changes the context and meaning while still retaining a visual reference to the original work.
additive sculpture – Process of creating a three-dimensional artwork by adding separate parts to crate a whole. Materials could include paper, wood, clay, found objects, metal, etc.
adoption – To incorporate elements that reference an existing image as part of a new composition for design or compositional purposes
aesthetics – The theory of the artistic or the beautiful; pertaining to work philosophically pleasing to the emotional nature of humans.
Aleut – See “Unangan (Aleut) and Sugpiaq (Alutiiq)”
For additional Unangan (Aleut) resources, see Alaska Native Heritage Center and Alaska Native Knowledge Network and Arctic Circle
alkyds – Paints that have a binder made of synthetic resin and oil. Alkyd paints dray faster than oil paints.
Alutiiq – See “Unangan (Aleut) and Sugpiaq (Alutiiq)”
For additional Sugpiaq (Alutiiq) resources, see Alutiiq Museum and Archeological Depository and Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People of Southern Alaska
amorphous – Without definite form.
analogous colors – Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel (for example, yellow, yellow-orange, and orange. Also called related colors; similar or alike.
analysis – The examination of something in detail by separating it into its fundamental elements or component parts.
appropriation – The use of another artist’s work in different context from the original similar. In Postmodern art this practice of re-using existing images and forms questions the idea of originality in art however the practice can be seen as neutral or even complimentary to the original artist.
architect – Structural design professional who designs buildings and supervises their construction.
architecture – The art and science of designing buildings and other large-scale, aesthetically pleasing, functional structures.
armature – A frame made of wire or other materials and used to hold up a sculpture.
art criticism – Process of thinking and learning 9making discriminating judgments about a work of art in order to be able to draw informed conclusions about its quality or meaning.
Art Deco – Refers to a style popular in the United States and Europe in the 1920s and 1930s primarily in architecture and the decorative arts. The style derives its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Modernes in Paris in 1925. The style is characterized by an emphasis on rectilinear motifs, vibrant colors, and elegant, abstracted, simplified forms.
art history – Study of the historical and cultural contexts of art.
artifact – An object created by human beings, but not generally regarded as art. Most artifacts are originally produced to serve a function. They acquire aesthetic value over time.
artistic elements – Visual properties of color, line, shape, form, texture and value. Sensory properties are immediately visible in a work of art.
artistic perception – Using awareness, sensitivity, and intuition to gain insight and knowledge regarding natural and human-made environments.
artist’s intention – An artist’s purpose or reason for creating a particular artwork; often difficult to know.
artwork – An object or image resulting from imaginative conception and creation that invokes a feeling of pleasure or another emotional response in the viewer and that may convey meaning.
assemblage – Type of three-dimensional art built by combining and connecting a variety of objects and found materials to create a unified whole.
asymmetrical balance – Type of balance in which two sides of an artwork are not alike, but carry equal or nearly equal visual weight. Also known as informal balance.
Athabascan – The term “Athabascan” refers to a large family that is represented in Alaska by eleven separate languages. Other Athabascan languages are spoken in western Canada, as well as the southwestern portion of the United States (Navaho and Apache are Athabascan languages).
The term “Athabascan” comes from the name of a lake in Canada, Lake Athabasca, which was named by neighboring (non-Athabascan) people. The term was eventually used as the name of the languages spoken by people who lived around the lake. A better name might have been a variation of the word “dena,” which, in one form or another, means “person” in all Athabascan languages.
Eyak Indians are a group whose language is distantly related to the Athabascan language family, and whose descendants moved down the interior Copper River to the coast in precontact days. Their culture retained many similarities with Athabascan cultures, but by the 19th century was becoming more and more like that of the neighboring Tlingits through intermarriage and trade. Today, although the group itself is by no means extinct, their language has only a single speaker left. The city of Cordova in southcentral Alaska remains the center of the Eyak territory.
Traditionally, most Alaskan Athabascans made their homes in the interior of the state along the tributaries of major rivers such as the Yukon, Tanana, Kuskokwim, Susitna, Copper, and Kenai. There the people continue to hunt, trap, and fish for moose, caribou, wolf, bear, wolverine, small land mammals, salmon, pike, and other fish. The exception are the Dena’ina residents of Cook Inlet, whose home territory skirts both riverine habitats and the sea shore. The climate is extreme, ranging from over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer to 70 below zero in the winter.
Perhaps the most important plant to the Athabascans has been the birch tree, used in making canoes, snowshoes, houses, baskets, and shelter. Willow, berries, roots, and other plants are collected in their seasons as well to be used as food, building material, and medicines.
Most Alaskan Athabascan societies are matrilineal, meaning that, especially in the past, the children belonged to the mother’s clan and were trained by the mother’s brother. In the old days, a man would usually move into the community of his wife’s family so the children would be close to their clan relatives. The clan system has broken down somewhat in modern times, though many youngsters know their clan names and symbols.
The Athabascans – with the exception of the Dena’ina, who became acquainted with the Russians in the late 18th century – were among the last of the Alaska Native groups to come into contact with Europeans. In fact, it was not until the Gold Rush at the turn of the 20th century that sustained contact with non-Natives exceeded more than one or two visits from traders a year. From then on, settlers, trappers, missionaries, traders, teachers, and prospectors flooded into interior Alaska, forever changing the life. Disease and alcohol, Christianity and boarding schools, technological innovations and game laws all brought about major changes in the lives of Athabascans.
Today Athabascans are renowned for their beautiful birch bark baskets, beadwork, and skin sewing.
© Hands Across Alaska 2002
For additional Athabascan resources, see Alaska Native Heritage Center and Alaska Native Knowledge Network
For additional Eyak resources, see Alaska Native Heritage Center and Alaska Native Knowledge Network
atmospheric perspective – The illusion of space produced by lightening values, softening contours and neutralizing colors in objects as they recede.
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