Randy Wisla
JK Schmidt’s exclusive Indigenous artist, available only at our store
Discover Randy Wisla’s Artistry
Born in Vanderhoof, British Columbia, Canada in 1970, Randy is descendant from a long line of Northwest Coast jewellery carvers. As a member of the Carrier Nation, Saik’uz band, Randy has spent his entire life devoted to learning Northwest Coast cultural art. At an early age, Randy began drawing and excelled in art class in elementary and secondary school.
In his twenties, Randy began apprenticing with his well-known master carver father, Charles Harper. For years, Randy learned about Northwest Coast art, formlines, metalwork techniques, and studio management from his father. Randy has never looked back and has carried on to carve out a highly successful career as a Northwest Coast jewellery designer in Vancouver.
For over fifteen years, Randy has been designing wearable, fashionable, stylish, and masterful Northwest Coast jewellery in silver, gold, platinum, and copper. Actors such as Steven Segal, Tantoo Cardinal, and Adam Beach all own and wear Randy Wisla Northwest Coast original designed jewellery.
Randy is proud of his career in Northwest Coast jewellery design and, in particular, is proud of his two beautiful teenage daughters.
Randy fused traditional Northwest coast jewellery design and techniques with a contemporary and signatory style. Formline designs are found in Northwest Coast art and are strongly linked to stories, clans, crests, and the Native cultures in British Columbia, Canada. Figures, motifs, and elements of Northwest coast art forms are intertwined with cultural protocols inherent in traditional jewellery designs. All the techniques of Northwest Coast jewellery design belong to the art form itself, and it is Randy’s signature style.
Wearable hand-carved Northwest coast silver jewellery is a must in this territory. Since the 2010 Winter Olympics where our Northwest Coast art and culture were prominently featured, it has become a stylized fashion in Vancouver and other major cities along the West Coast.
The quality of Randy’s workmanship is evident in the formlines, symmetry, and all phases of production from conceptualization to finishing and finally exhibition. The cross hatching, formlines, u joints, and ovoids are all technical elements of Northwest Coast jewellery design. However, Randy’s signature style separates his artwork in the field of excellence, mastery, and high-quality workmanship.
