Alaska Native Artist Rico Worl Designs Alaska Seafood Formline Series

ASMI is proud to announce a project designed to elevate the Alaska Native connection to our vital Alaska seafood species on the global stage. “Use of designs will be limited to ASMI. Our staff and contractors met with Rico for training on the cultural significance of the designs and their appropriate use and we’re honored to add them to our library,” says former ASMI Senior Director of Global Marketing & Strategy Hannah Lindoff who led the collaboration for ASMI. 

About the project

Seafood has long been a cornerstone of sustenance and prosperity for Alaskans, deeply ingrained in the state’s heritage. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is proud to spearhead a project designed to elevate the Alaska Native connection to these vital species on the global stage. Through this initiative, we aim to create a platform that showcases the enduring relationship between Alaska Natives and Alaska seafood, ensuring their stories and traditions are recognized and valued in the global seafood marketplace. And we hope to facilitate our constituents to be able to represent this heritage of Alaska in an appropriate and respectful manner.

About the art

These designs were developed using traditional art forms of Southeast Alaska. Formline art has been developed and carried by the Indigenous people of Southeast Alaska over hundreds of generations. We hold profound respect for the intergenerational dedication that has shaped this distinctive design system and the artists of these Alaska Native communities who carry this knowledge into the future. 

Formline is a distinctive artistic style used in Northwest Coast Indigenous art, characterized by its mathematical balance and visual structure of the formline, and distinct precision and respect to the relationship between negative and positive space.

About the artist

Rico Lanáat’ Worl is a Tlingit and Athabaskan social designer and artist with training in anthropology. His work started in developing the arts department at Sealaska Heritage Institute, implementing programs to empower the Indigenous artists of Southeast Alaska. The programs focused on developing fundamental skills and access to resources. Through his current ongoing project, Trickster Company, he carries forward the goals of empowering Indigenous artists. 

Find Rico’s works at www.ricoworl.com and on instagram at @rico.worl.