Roy Henry

Roy Henry

Roy Henry - Biography

Roy Henry is an Iroquois artist raised within the traditional culture and language of the Onondaga Nation, Deer Clan. Henry started out as a woodcarver when he was just twelve years old, but by the mid-1970s, he started working in stone, creating carvings for commercial galleries. Today he works with a variety of media, including steatite (soapstone), marble, alabaster, catlinite, wonderstone, gypsum rock, limestone, as well as deer antler. Roy carves in a range of scales, from small to very large (or heroic).

Artist Specialization: The faces that peer out of Roy Henry’s sculptures have a strong connection to the spirit-beings who share this Creation with humans. The subjects of much of his work draw on the oral traditions of the Iroquois, but as articulated and transformed by the artist. He distinguishes between modern, contemporary, and traditional styles, and is adept in all three.