Art

Item Description

Artist: Diane M. Cubit

Title: Abenaki Uncle

Artist Statement: I am Abenaki. Hand carved ash totems were used to honor a family achievement. This statue represents our history and our future. I created motifs and used traditional symbols to represent our families, a place, or a time. He is testament that my people are still here in NY. English words are derived from our language, and adorn the statue.

Artist Biography: Diane grew up playing in the sand dunes of the pine bush, where her dad taught her how to hunt and fish and plays with band saws and belt sanders. Her progressive mom passed on her Abenaki culture and now extinct language, taught her how to farm, and be accepting of her creativity. After graduating from Guilderland high school, she attended Rochester Institute of Technology receiving her BFA in Medical Illustration in 1990. She took gross anatomy and surgical procedures at University of Rochester Strong memorial and Park Ridge hospital. She freelanced as a medical illustrator, and published a training text for mammography technicians on how to detect breast cancer, and completed slide show presentations for medical conventions in China, and illustrated mushroom types for Ward scientific supply catalog. In 1995 after moving her family across the state to settle here in Troy, she worked as a darkroom technician and artist for a printed circuit board designer, and electro-mechanical prototype maker. She created artwork and designed labeling for the prototypes to what we know now as dog collars for invisible fence, the thruway ez-pass light tree, and Nobelium denture making machines. Other freelance work included the NYS teachers association and Lamar bill boards. Today, she continues to explore her creativity by promoting her Abenaki culture through her artwork.

Artist Biography: Diane grew up playing in the sand dunes of the pine bush, where her dad taught her how to hunt and fish and plays with band saws and belt sanders. Her progressive mom passed on her Abenaki culture and now extinct language, taught her how to farm, and be accepting of her creativity. After graduating from Guilderland high school, she attended Rochester Institute of Technology receiving her BFA in Medical Illustration in 1990. She took gross anatomy and surgical procedures at University of Rochester Strong memorial and Park Ridge hospital. She freelanced as a medical illustrator, and published a training text for mammography technicians on how to detect breast cancer, and completed slide show presentations for medical conventions in China, and illustrated mushroom types for Ward scientific supply catalog. In 1995 after moving her family across the state to settle here in Troy, she worked as a darkroom technician and artist for a printed circuit board designer, and electro-mechanical prototype maker. She created artwork and designed labeling for the prototypes to what we know now as dog collars for invisible fence, the thruway ez-pass light tree, and Nobelium denture making machines. Other freelance work included the NYS teachers association and Lamar bill boards. Today, she continues to explore her creativity by promoting her Abenaki culture through her artwork.