Eric Schweig

Eric Schweig - Artist Friends United

My birth name is Ray Dean Thrasher while my adopted legal name is Eric Kurt Schweig. I was born in Inuvik NWT in 1967 and moved south to Ontario with my adoptive family in the early 70s. Although I was forcibly detached from my Inuit culture I always knew I was Inuit in my heart and I knew I had a real mother somewhere. So as a youngster I was among other subjects, prodigiously sketching pictures of Inuit mothers with their babies and carving Inuits in kayaks from the plentiful albeit “knotty” white pine in the area. I “graduated” from my adoption experience and moved away from home when I was 16 and began acting in film and television in my 20s. My first big role was in the movie “The last of the Mohicans” alongside of Daniel Day-Lewis, Russel Means, Madeleine Stowe, and Wes Studi and my acting career has been evolving since. Eventually aspiring to continue carving, I began a formal apprenticeship with Vern Etzerza a Tahltan carver from Telegraph Creek BC in 1998 and I have been carving traditional and contemporary Inuit masks ever since. In 2018 I was told by my friend and Salish totem pole carver Gerry Sheena about Rolf Bouman and Friends United. In 2021 I did join the Friends United Initiative as I love mentoring youth and fellow artists. Friends United is a one-of-a-kind experience in Canada and I’m very proud to be part.

Eric Schweig
Eric Schweig
Eric Schweig
Eric Schweig
Eric Schweig
Eric Schweig
Eric Schweig
Eric Schweig
Eric Schweig

More Artists…