Mark Preston

Mark Preston (Tenna-Tsa-Teh) was born in Dawson City, Yukon. He is of Tlingit and Irish ancestry, living in Whitehorse, Yukon.

He learned about his Tlingit ancestry through family and school study. Initially, Mark began studying art through European masters such as Leonardo da Vinci but later discovered other notable masters: Bill Reid, Robert Davidson and Roy Vickers. He cites Mark Rothko and Jack Bush as influences in his more recent aboriginal paintings and artworks which transcend the traditional Tlingit native art form and move him closer into the abstract and contemporary realm. Mark has studied various mediums in paper, cloth, wood, metals, stone and most recently started working on glass. He began studying silver carving with well known master jeweler and carver Phil Janze (Gitskan Nation) at Hazelton, B.C.

“When I think about what art is, it is more than illustration or objects to be doted over. Art is the magic, the glue that binds us all together. It is the language that transcends its forms.” Mark Preston