About Douglas Burgess

Douglas Jan Burgess II is an Indigenous artist (Haida, Umpqua, Dakota) from Hydaburg, Alaska who began working with glass at the age of 12 in Tacoma Washington with the Hilltop Artists Program. He continued his education at Pilchuck glass school which introduced him to a new outlook on the boundaries of glasswork. Pilchuck also acquainted him with the local studio glass scene in the Pacific Northwest where he began working at multiple glassblowing studios as well as assisting local artists such as Dan Friday and Jason Christian. Here is where Burgess began developing his glassblowing skillset and acumen. Burgess has since returned to Hilltop Artists as an instructor where he works with the next generation of glass artists. In his work he pays homage to his culture’s traditional practices in a more contemporary format.

“Growing up in a small village in southeast Alaska with a population of just over 300 there was not much career opportunity. However we were very connected to our culture and heritage, we hunted and fished for our food regularly, while in school we would practice speaking our native tongue, and were educated about our tribes arts and craft. When I was eight I was given my Haida name “Slay Sliinlaas” which translates to Creative Hands. With concerns of adequate education and stable career paths for my siblings and I, my parents made the decision to relocate to Tacoma, WA.  I became fully immersed in a culture that was foreign to me, I began subconsciously disassociating from my own culture and heritage. The work I explore pays homage to my culture's beliefs and traditions. I found it serendipitous that I began to carve and paint on glass because it's a way for me to associate my rather contemporary practice with the traditional art forms of carving and painting carried out by my ancestors.”