Ned Bear's carved wooden masks are well known in New Brunswick and beyond, and his reputation for creating spirited pieces is growing internationally.  He presently resides amongst the Wolastoqiyik First Nation, located within the city limits of Fredericton, New Brunswick. His father was Plains Cree from Saskatchewan met Ned’s mother while stationed in New Brunswick before being sent to France in the Second World War. Coming from a family of nine siblings, Ned recalls times when his family just barely made ends meet, within those poverty-stricken times. His father was wounded in the war and his received a meager pension, whilst his mother supplemented this with occasional long hour housecleaning and childcare, for a mere pittance per day. Today, Bear attributes his artistic outlook from his boyhood experience of living in abject poverty.   I believe these life events of scarcity in materialistic possession did affect my perception of my world-view says Bear. These past experiences are reflected within my creative approach and my attempt to express my artistic conceptions, these works are essentially spiritual in nature, or perhaps I can say, spirits of nature.

Bear has always felt a communion with those spiritual aspects of life. As a young boy, Bear was once playing with friend in the community, when he chanced upon a white-haired native elder, carving in his workshop. Immediately Bear felt he had to    stop and watch the elderly man. As Bear did so,   he began to feel very calm and reassured, and somehow knew then, that he had it in his heart and soul to become a carver of wood. For Bear, this was an extraordinary and heart-felt experience. Now, he is still not quite sure if this accidental meeting actually happened, or was merely a waking dream or vision. Whichever it was, the experience deeply affected Bear, and    he became inspired and determined to become an accomplished carver.  Receiving very little support from any outside sources, he pursued this dream independently, and has been practicing natural media sculpture for over twenty years now.

Bear pursued formal training at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, and was actually the first aboriginal student to graduate from this institution. He credits George Fry, former Director of the school, for making a major influence into his artistic career. About to give up on his academic studies, Bear was persuaded by Mr. Fry to continue, so Bear eventually did graduate, and with honors. He continued his art studies at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now The First Nations University of Canada), and then onto the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Bear currently holds a Bachelor of Education Degree from University of New Brunswick (UNB). With a major in Native Art, this discipline also became his guide in his continuing studies of Native American art, such as his pursuit of a university masters degree.

Bear focus is on giving a contemporary interpretation of traditional spiritual beliefs. He expresses this in sculpted masks of wood, and in figure-forms carved in marble or limestone. Also, he is currently researching the production and playing of the traditional Native American Love flute, with plans to apply and to teach theoretical and practical aspects of the  flute. He also has been involved in the research and development of three-dimensional native art forms in virtual-reality. Amongst his other activities, he was Director of Education for Saint Mary's First Nation for ten years. Involved in numerous community organizations, committees, outreach programs, and educational events in New Brunswick, has participated in numerous national and international solo and group shows, presenting artwork that was guided by his deep sense of spiritual value.

Each day brings new challenges to Bear. He considers his art as a path of self-discovery and feels he is continually uncovering undiscovered facets of his inner self.   He refers to this path as his means of inspiration, and considers it a labor of love a way to connect at a spiritual level. From a very early age I felt a very close affinity to all that existed in nature, says Bear.     At one time, I did not understand these feelings, and no-one ever explained them. When I did try to relate these feelings to others who had an influence over me, I was laughed at or ridiculed.  I felt that my feelings and   beliefs were taken away from me by people, who I now realize, were they influenced by other limited forces, such as societies current religious or educational institutional values and practices. So, back in those times, I learned not to express how   I truly felt. Of course nowadays, I realize this was a mistake as I am now reclaiming those buried beliefs through my work. For Bear, spirits exist at all levels, and he thinks humankind is being very presumptuous, in accepting believes that they have spiritual attributes that are much more superior to those of the natural world. 

Bear, later on in life, discovered the concepts of Taoism, and was immediately attracted to its   close similarity to the ideas in traditional native beliefs. We are all related and connected by spirit, recites Bear. I hope people see this when they look at my work.  A mask can be a portal into an intimate dimension, a captured wink of mystic time. Through the ritual of wearing a mask, we have the opportunity to access the power of transformation, and can embrace the spiritual significance of the Pawakon or spiritual helper. When creating his artwork, Bear considers himself merely as a conduit for an energy that flows from the eternal Great Spirit and into the medium. I prepare no preliminary designs or sketches for any of my work, says the artist, thereby allowing the spirit-energy to guide me, and reveal the medium so as to allow it to speak for itself.

Bear finds the physical act of carving both the most and the least rewarding thing in his art process.    He enjoys seeing the form appear under his hand, but finds some parts of the work tedious, such as removing the waste from the back of a mask. Even with this, he turns into a spiritual end Tedious tasks exercise my patience says Bear.  But they also provide an opportunity for meditation because of the repetitive pounding of the mallet against the chisel. This is like the rhythm of the heart, (or, the one-time pounding of an ash log (once-frequently practiced by community basket-makers in preparation).  I find this very soothing.

The carver creates masks that average about 3 feet in height, and are usually carved out of butternut, or yellow birch.  Each one may be adorned with horsehair, (horse symbolic of a free spirit) bear fur (bear traditionally known as a healer). Each spirit-helper (mask) tells a story to the listener (a present viewer), if they are willing to listen (with an open mind an open heart and an open spirit) - somewhat of a dilemma for many in today’s society, where the present moment is usually dismissed with haste. Masks are called in Plains Cree dialect. 

Bear is also the 2006 recipient of the prestigious Smithson Institute Fellowship Award, in which he will be continuing his research with the historic collections and records (of masks), located in the New York City, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Boston, Smithsonian collections.