This LoRA is designed to support the visual exploration and wider appreciation of hand-carved masks from the Pacific Northwest, which spans Canada and the US. Masks hold profound cultural importance across the region. They express ancestry, identity, ceremony, storytelling, transformation, and relationships with human, animal, and supernatural beings. The LoRA was trained on hundreds of images of masks from various angles (so you can change angles), extensively captioned by materials, colors, and styles. In practice, there isn't a 'general purpose' Pacific Northwest west: there are several cultural traditions, each with their styles and stories. The gallery and documentation show you how you can trigger specific cultural traditions. By showing the visible differences among regional carving styles, materials, colors, and forms, the LoRA can help introduce these traditions to broader audiences while encouraging culturally informed representations.

Common tags:

The trigger is: mask.
Commonly occurring objects in the captions include:

• materials: Carved cedar wood (Red cedar, pale cedar, natural wood, exposed wood grain, painted wood), Cedar bark (Shredded cedar bark, braided cedar bark, bark fringe, bark crown, woven bark fiber), Attached hair (Dark human hair, pale hair, horsehair, loose strands, long side hair), Feathers (Crown feathers, upright feathers, dark feathers, white feathers, feather tufts), Shell inlay (Abalone, nacre, reflective shell, shell-inlaid eyes, shell-inlaid teeth)

• shapes: Round or circular (Circular mask, celestial disk, round eyes, circular mouth, concentric surround), Oval or ovoid (Oval face, oval frame, ovoid eye field, ovoid crest form), Elongated (Long face, extended muzzle, narrow head, long horizontal profile), Projecting or hooked (Projecting beak, hooked bill, long nose, tubular mouth, protruding muzzle), Articulated or layered (Movable jaw, opening panels, transformation mask, stacked figures, nested face)

• canonical colors: black (e.g., for outlines), red (e.g., for lips, mouth, nostrils), natural cedar (e.g., unpainted face, exposed outlines, negative space, visible grain), blue-green (e.g., turquoise eyes), white or pale (e.g., teeth, contour accents, pales faces)

• entities depicted: human or ancestral figure, raven, thunderbird, eagle, bear. Although less common, there are also owl, wolf, shark, salmon, mosquito, grouse, Bukwus, and Hoxhok.

• angles: frontal view, three-quartier view, side view, close frontal view

Short sample prompts:

• Northern style raven mask, carved red cedar, long black beak, deep red and black ovoid and U-form designs, exposed golden wood grain, abalone-shell eye, three-quarter profile. [Observation, not part of the prompt: Raven is an important ancestral, crest, and narrative figure in many northern communities like the Haida and Tlingit. Dense painted design and shell inlay often emphasize the relationship between carving, lineage, and visual identity.]

• Northern style moon mask, round cedar disk with a calm human face, blue-gray and black surrounding forms, restrained red accents, shell-inlaid eyes, frontal view. [Observation, not part of the prompt: Celestial beings may be represented through human facial features. The circular surround distinguishes the figure from an ordinary portrait and connects the face to a larger cosmological presence.]

• West coastal style thunderbird mask, deeply carved cedar, massive hooked orange beak, green eyes, black and red facial shapes, tall crest, shredded cedar-bark fringe, frontal view. [Observation, not part of the prompt: Supernatural birds are often depicted through exaggerated scale, projecting beaks, and vivid color. Cedar bark and other attachments help transform a carved object into ceremonial regalia with movement and presence. The 'west' style tags primarily the Nuu-chah-nulth traditions, including the historically used term “Nootka.”]

• Central style human-spirit mask, elongated natural cedar face, narrow eyes, long angular nose, restrained black and red paint, attached dark hair and woven fiber, close three-quarter view. [Observation, not part of the prompt: central style referred mainly to Kwakwaka'wakw traditions of the Central Coast. This included deeply projecting bird masks, transformation masks, Hamatsa-associated beings such as Hoxhok and Crooked Beak, Thunderbird, Kolus, Owl, Bukwus, articulated jaws, saturated black-red-green palettes, feathers, and extensive cedar-bark regalia.]

• Coast Salish human mask, pale carved cedar, broad smooth facial planes, rounded cheeks, simple black eyebrows, red lips, small blue-gray accents, attached hair, frontal view. [Observation, not part of the prompt: Coast Salish masks may emphasize sculptural clarity, human expression, and restrained painted detail. The apparent simplicity of the surface places greater attention on facial form, proportion, and the presence of the represented person or spirit.]

Longer sample prompts:

Please see the gallery of images. They all come with prompts. If you are struggling to create a more involved prompt, feel free to ask for help or just share what you've got so we can all react and chime in.

To learn more:

Thom, I. M. (Ed.). (1993). Robert Davidson: Eagle of the dawn. Vancouver Art Gallery; Douglas & McIntyre. University of Washington Press.

Wyatt, G. (2012). Seekers and travellers: Contemporary art of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Douglas & McIntyre; University of Washington Press.

Bob, D. (2022). Dempsey Bob: In his own voice (S. Milroy, Ed.). Figure 1 Publishing.

Martens, D. J. (2018). Beau Dick: Revolutionary spirit. Figure 1 Publishing. In collaboration with the Audain Art Museum.

Thom, I. M. (2009). Challenging traditions: Contemporary First Nations art of the Northwest Coast. Douglas & McIntyre.

Norris, K., & Norris, R. (2010). Contemporary art on the Northwest Coast: Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Makah. Schiffer Publishing.

Fazakas, L. (Ed.). (2019). Beau Dick: Devoured by consumerism. Figure 1 Publishing.

To support:

Several galleries in Canada (e.g., Vancouver) and the US (e.g., Seattle) sell works made by first nations artists, with a focus on quality. This is not cheap, but you support artists and you get a quality product. You may see replicas and fakes from Asian countries, at a much lower price, but that does not support first nations artists working in their cultural style. Out of respect for people who make a living from this style, the commercial use of this LoRA does not allow selling the model or images.