Lákt (Bentwood Box)

This box is covered in designs typical of Northwest Coast art, a style called “formline.” James Johnson created images of animals from ovoid shapes and U-forms, which combine to make faces along the corners of the box. What these bold images in some ways mask, however, is that they are carved and painted over a single, continuous plank of wood. Johnson carved the piece of yellow cedar with grooves, called kerfs, then steamed the wood to make it pliable, and bent it at the corners to create the box’s shape.