Curator & Collector

Image of a wider U-form taken from
Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast

As mentioned in the previous post, the U-form shape has a couple of basic derivatives: the S-form and the split U-form. (There are also four-way split U-forms, and I have seen something that certainly could be termed a three-way split U-form.)

The S-form has been likened by Stewart in her book to “two halves of a U form joined in opposite directions” (p. 22):

Detail of image; for the source, see under the first image above

In addition to the S-form, there is also a U-form-derived split U-form, and this is exactly what it sounds like:

Detail of image; for the source, see under the first image above

Again, the proportions of the shape can vary dramatically. Commenting on this shape, Stewart notes that the Haida word for the split U-form is “flicker feather”; the idea of this expression is shown in the photograph below:

Detail of image; for the source, see under the first image above

The U-form, split U-form, and S-form, then, together with the ovoid, are the most basic shapes of the traditional aboriginal art of the northwest coast. These shapes are made using the basic form-line, which is usually black. The form line, though, while positive, is actually used to create negative shapes–the subject of the next post.