Mark Preston, Tenna-Tsa-Teh
Mark Preston was born and raised in Dawson. He is an indigenous artist with Irish and Tlingit ancestry. He didn’t know about his Tlingit ancestors until he was in his twenties. He lived in the historic Bombay Peggy’s building, before it was renovated, and in Carmacks. He met Edith Jerome in Dawson and helped her sell her art at the Faro Ferrago Festival.1)
In Whitehorse, Mark worked in graphic design at Arctic Star Printing and a fellow worker encouraged him to study art. After a year in Victoria he returned to work for the Native Northern Broadcasting. The executive director recognized his talent and had him create the logo the station is still using. He talked to a master carver brought north by the Society of Yukon Artists of Native Ancestry (SYANA) and then enrolled in a four-year carving program at K’san in Hazelton, British Columbia. He trained in the evening with master jeweller Phil Janze (Gitskan Naton). Preston left the school after less than a year, disillusioned by his experience. By 2000, Preston was supporting himself through the sale of his art.2)
Mark Preston’s work is held in private and public collections including the Yukon Permanent Art Collection. His contemporary pieces are minimalist abstractions.