Thomas Stream was a prolific and talented Aleut (Sugiapq/Alutiiq) painter and craftsman who often depicted animals from the natural world into brilliantly coloured surrealist landscapes that incorporated design elements from his Aleut culture. Born on Kodiak Island, Stream lived in Seattle for much of his life and was heavily associated with the Stonington Gallery for the last several decades of his life. After serving in the military, Stream obtained a degree in advertising arts from Seattle Central Community College in 1974 and another degree in fine arts from Cornish School of Allied Arts in 1976. [1]

Throughout his long career, Stream created works in stone, wood, paints, and papier-mâché, as in this Aleut visor. The most frequently recurring theme within Stream’s oeuvre is the presence of brightly coloured, but naturalistically rendered, birds and other wildlife from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska wearing bentwood Aleut visors. An especially interesting innovation in Stream’s painting is how he incorporated the swirling linework of historic Aleut visors into his subjects in much the same fashion that Pacific Northwest Coast artists use formline elements. There is a bit of playful humour and an almost meta-aspect to this sculpture of an Aleut visor that features a cormorant wearing another Aleut visor. This is a fine and rare example of three-dimensional art from an important, but perhaps overlooked, Alaska Native artist.

1. Artist Bio: Aleut Artist Thomas Stream. https://www.aleutartistthomasstream.com/artist bio.html. Accessed March 13, 2025.

Christopher W. Smith