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Reclaimed Maple wood, Acrylic paint, Steel, Copper

Tɫabat’si (Copper Box) is an impressive large-scale piece that combines Pacific Northwest Coast history with contemporary artistic methods. The box is designed to look like traditional bentwood boxes, which were an innovative creation of the coastal Indigenous peoples that were used for a wide variety of utilitarian and ceremonial purposes. The imagery on the piece is depicted using classic formline and ovoid design principles, while the decision to incorporate copper was directly influenced by its historical importance across the region. Contrasting these more traditional design choices, the mediums and methods used by Corrine are highly contemporary, with the most obvious modern influence being the use of laser cut steel.

The main imagery on this box depicts the Raven as he dances with a Chilkat blanket on his shoulders. The opposite side of the box features the tail of a Killerwhale. The Raven and the Killerwhale are the two figures that Corrine identifies with most strongly, and at least one of the two can be found on the vast majority of her creations. The Chilkat blanket was a specialty of the Tlingit people, so its inclusion is a nod to that side of the artist’s heritage.