Tag: Native American Art

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Write Around PAM: Mary Adams

Strawberry Basket by Mary Adams (Mohawk, Canadian), 2 inches x 2 inches, ash splints and commercial die. This tiny basket with a lid is a natural golden color overall and topped with a decorative loop handle that is dyed green to imitate leaves and a stem. The whole basket has a bumpy texture due to the weave of the materials. The weave creates rows of small looping circles that hug the surface with the open ends of the loops facing outward. They are tilted slightly downward on the body of the basket and more upward on the lid. Around the edge of the lid, where it meets the body of the basket, the weaving materials are bound together with a splint spiralling around the edge. It looks very much like an unripe strawberry with the dark shadowy centers of each of the loops resembling rows of seeds.

At two inches by two inches in diameter, this piece by Mary Adams (Mohawk, Canadian) feels quintessentially “small but mighty” and so full of intricate beauty. In these fraught days, we invite you to spend some time writing in this spirit of “small but mighty,” knowing that each of us has a mighty role to…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Haudenosaunee / Iroquois artist

Haudenosaunee/Iroquois artist, Pouch, 8 x 4 inches, cotton, silk and glass beads. A photo of a colorful U-shaped pouch with handle against a gray background. The pouch is slightly narrower at the top then widens at the bottom. At the center, set against black velvet is a large, white, beaded flower topped by a pink, beaded flower with pale green, gold, and blue, beaded leaves. Surrounding the flowers are white and brick-red beadwork lines composed of three white beads, two larger brick-red beads, then three white beads. Each line radiates outward from the flowers at center. Two lines of white beading encompasses the center designs running along the edge of the pouch. At the outer edge of the pouch is a red cotton border with loops of gold beads along the sides and turquoise blue beaded loops along the bottom. Some areas of beading are missing at the bottom center and at the left edge. The top of the pouch shows a thin, short, tan cotton handle. Pale blue ribbon embellishes the opening of the pouch but is partially missing, exposing the hand stitching along the pouch’s opening.

This small but ornate pouch represents a very distinctive beadwork innovation created by Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) artists in the mid- to late-19th century. Small fabric bags, pin cushions, photo frames and other purely decorative forms, known as “whimsies,” were beaded with thick layers of stacked beadwork. The artists often favored translucent beads on black or bright…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Dyani White Hawk

Wókaǧe/ Create from suite Takes Care of Them, Dyani White Hawk, 44 x 23 ¼ inches, screen print and metallic foil. A vertical rectangular print featuring the bodice of an embellished, yellow dress. The bodice is rectangular shaped with the top being slightly narrower than the bottom. The top quarter of this rectangle has a semi- circular yoke composed of ten rows of narrow white strips placed close together that resemble fringe. On this yoke three bunches of ribbon fan out from the top of the bunch in red, white, purple and navy. The bottom of the yoke has small, round, copper shapes along its edge. The majority of the bodice is a bright, variegated, golden yellow. At the bottom hem of the bodice are horizontal rows of “ribbon” in navy, purple, white, red. Just above the ribbon rows are five crosses composed of the white fringe strips from the yoke with a copper circle shape at each center. The bodice is set on a white background.

This screenprint by Dyani White Hawk was inspired by a Plains style women’s dentalium dress. You can almost feel the ribbons, the wool, the shells, the metallic details, the hemline. Learn more about the creation of this piece and the series Takes Care of Them. Then take some time to write a bit, using something…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Marcus Amerman

The Gathering, Marcus Amerman, 10 1/8 x 17 inches, glass beads on cotton cloth. A horizontal, rectangular work depicting a grouping of individuals on horseback arranged in a line in front of the Portland skyline with Mt. Hood in the distance. The grouping takes up the lower half of the work. They are shown on a patch of pale green grass wearing white feather headdresses and finery in blues, brick red, white and yellow. Their brown and white horses are adorned in similar colors. Just behind the group on the left are 2 brown tipis. The cityscape in the middle ground is composed of geometric buildings beaded in gray, white and black set against the blue and white mountains and blue sky in the upper half.

For #NativeAmericanHeritageDay, it seemed a most appropriate choice to feature this celebratory work by Marcus Amerman (American and Choctaw, b.1959), titled, The Gathering (1997). In this completely beaded panel, the artist has depicted a group of Native American riders, bedecked in their finery, including feather headdresses and beaded horse gear, standing proudly against a Portland cityscape.…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Brenda Mallory

Proximate Parcels, Brenda Mallory, 70 x 34 x 4 inches, deconstructed thread spools and cores. A work composed of interlocking trapezoid shapes fitted together to form a vertical rectangle with six vertical rows of dark charcoal colored “stitching” running lengthwise. The trapezoid shapes are made up of red fibers, appear fluffy and vary in shades of deep red to tomato red. The edges of the work are uneven and undulate slightly with the shape of the trapezoids. The stitches embellish the trapezoid shapes but do not actually join them together.

The act of cutting something apart down to its core, effectively destroying its original function, but then reforming into a beautiful lush object reflects my interest in how things that are broken or disrupted are often still viable and lively. —Brenda Mallory, 2019 Brenda Mallory’s mixed media work, Proximate Parcels, is striking in many ways.…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Joe Feddersen

Flat Screen, Joe Feddersen, 19 ½ x 25, fused glass. A photo of a vertical, rectangular glass panel showing a simplified humanoid figure with an oversized rectangle for a head. The panel consists of a multitude of small glass rectangles that have been fused together forming the figure in black outline against a brick-like background pattern. The figure’s head is the outline of a large, horizontal rectangle resembling a flat screen TV. The neck, shoulders, arms, hands with thumbs sticking out, a torso, two legs and feet complete the figure. The figure is set against light blue glass rectangles that are stacked to form uneven rows with space between them being black. The piece is edged with a thin, red border.

Screens and our relationships to them continue to evolve and influence all facets of our lives—how we stay informed, how we work and learn and play, how we connect with one another, how we attempt civil discourse, even where in our spaces we spend our time. They can connect us across vast distances, and also…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Zig Jackson

Indian Man on the Bus, from the series Indian Man in San Francisco, 16 x 20 inches, gelatin silver print. A horizontal, rectangular, black and white photo of the crowded interior of a bus featuring a man wearing a Native American feather headdress. The view is of the last few rows of the back of the bus showing a group of seated male presenting individuals. At right, a man is seen wearing a large Native American feather headdress composed of dark tipped, white feathers that radiate from a beaded band across the top of the man’s forehead. He wears a neutral expression, dark sunglasses, a jacket, cuffed jeans and high-top sneakers. He is sitting on one of the inward facing bus benches and so faces towards the left. The other figures around him sit in rows: three behind the man in the headdress, across the back wall of the bus, four seated in rows in front of the man and several partially visible figures to the left of the photo. The men, all of whom look past the man in the headdress or out the window, appear to be of varying backgrounds such as White, Hispanic or Asian. A city street scene is visible through large bus windows at right.

“While working on his MFA in photography at the San Francisco Art Institute during the 1990s, Zig Jackson turned the camera on himself. He wryly explored the ways that he, a Native American, moved through a large American West Coast city that was once the land of Indigenous peoples including the Ohlone, Chochenyo, Karkin, Ramaytush,…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Haida artist

Adze, Haida artist, 4 x 9 ½ x 1 5/8 inches, wood and steatite with abalone shell inlay. A photo of a wooden adze with the head of an animal containing abalone shell facial features. The animal head is at the right side of the woodworking tool and has a small upright ear, large shell eyes, flared nostrils, and a wide mouth showing large shell teeth. The wood is a warm brown and very smooth all over. The abalone shell is a grayish silver with flashes of bright white and deeper tones of gray and brown. Extending from the back of the head to the left is the tool’s cylindrical handle that ends in a point like a short tail. The animal’s neck extends down to the base of the tool with the handle and base connecting at each end and forming a void and room for the artisan’s hand. The base is wrapped with thin strips of dark brown leather that have compacted with use. These leather strips hold a piece of a steatite to the base. The steatite extends back past the end of the adze. Old museum accession numbers are seen at the bottom rear of the base having been added years later.

“The art of the peoples of the Northwest Coast is often represented by large-scale, heroic sculptural works, complex masks, and other regalia that represent and celebrate their clans. These works were created for communities and large audiences. This elegant wooden adze, however, was seen primarily by an audience of one: probably the Haida artist who…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: James Lavadour

Mandatory, James Lavadour, 17 ¾ x 13 1/8, color monotype on paper. A vertical rectangular print showing a red, armless figure, just right of center, against a background of smudged, scraped and blended earth tones. The figure has the suggestion of a head, its outline incised in the paint revealing the cream-colored base below. The ribs, torso, pelvis, and the legs are covered in a sheer wash of the red color that fades away at the bottom along with the lower legs and feet of the figure. The red color arcs from the figure’s head to the left becoming a muddier brown and continues off the work. The figure is placed on a background of earthy brown paint tones which look as if they have been scraped, moved, and manipulated by palette knives and brushes. The effect is sharper, harsher, and darker at the bottom of the monotype and more blended, softer, and lighter at the top half. The right edge of the print from top right to lower right darkens to very deep brownish black.

“Those familiar with the work of renowned Oregon artist James Lavadour (Walla Walla, b. 1951) may be surprised to encounter this expressive and figurative monotype. Lavadour is best known for his passionate and richly hued paintings, drawn from his experience of the lands near his home on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Lillian Pitt

Dancing in the Wind, Lillian Pitt, 14 ¾ x 5 7/8 x 4 7/8 inches, clay, beads, wood, and wire. A photo of a sculpture composed of three main parts: a body, a base, and a finial. The pale-beige clay body is shaped like a vertical rectangle with rounded corners and is highly textured with imprinted patterns. The bottom right corner is rounded off further than the other corners. The imprinted patterns appear to have been made with shells and form concentric semicircles similar to how the bands of a rainbow are arranged. A row each of scallop and nautilus shell imprints form arcs on their sides starting at the top and ending at the bottom. The balance of the body is dotted with the indentations of shell markings overall. Protruding irregularly from the right side of the body are bent copper wires with amber colored beads at the ends. Each wire is bent differently. The body is attached to a thick, chunky wood base by a short, metal rod. The blond wood of the base is traversed with thin dark lines that seem to outline the grain. At top, the finial is connected to the body by clay and is an irregular spherical shape with metal rods radiating out at 9, 12, 2, and 3 o’clock. At 10 o’clock, a copper wire curves into a spiral.

Lillian Pitt, Dancing in the Wind, 1998, clay, beads, wood, and wire, Gift of Allan and Lenore Sindler, © Lillian L. Pitt, 2006.54.4 Even in its stillness, this piece by Lillian Pitt feels alive, full of movement, ready to dance. Our words can also carry motion, inviting us into imaginative spaces where we are floating,…  Read more