Sean Whonnock, son of Lydia Whonnock, was born and raised in Alert Bay, B.C. His grandfather, Gideon Whonnock and godfather, Karl Svanvik have been the guiding forces in Sean Whonnock's life. At the age of 7, Sean first met his cousin Joe Peters Jr. Sean has a strong memory of Joe Peters Jr. carving at this time and credits him with being his first and strongest influence. At the age of 12, Sean enrolled in a carving programme taught by George Hunt Jr. In his early 20s, Sean studied and carved with Simon Dick, and later, with Beau Dick and Wayne Alfred in Alert Bay. Other artists who have inspired Sean Whonnock are Art Thompson, Joe David, Russell Smith, Susan Point and Robert Davidson. In 1994, Sean moved to Victoria and continued to pursue his carving. Since 1997, when the artist first joined the carving programme at Thunderbird Park,. He has been engaged in a number of commissions both as an individual artist and as a member of group projects. During this time Sean worked with a number of other artists including Shawn Karpes, Johnathan Henderson and Luke Marston. Sean is committed to the well being of his community and is taking an active role in its cultural events. In 1999, Sean was given the Chief's dance and a new name from his family at the Whonnock-Henderson pole raising in Victoria. At the present time Sean is involved in a number of community based cultural projects and adding to his knowledge of dances and songs.*
*Cited from www.pacificeditions.ca