CURATOR CHAT
What event (gallery show, museum exhibit, etc.) in the next few months are you looking forward to, and why?
Although I won’t have much time to travel since I just arrived in Denver, if I could, I would go to the Natalie Ball exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum titled Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Snake. She is a young artist who is taking some risks in her work and pushing boundaries in ways that remind me of both Brad Kahlhamer and Marie Watt’s work. Those predecessors are having a great influence on our younger artists.
I would also like to attend an exhibition in Spokane, Washington, titled As Grandmother Taught: Women, Tradition and Plateau Art. These two exhibitions are really at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of art forms and subject matter, but I’m really interested in the multitude of ways Indigenous artists innovate, whether it’s within a more traditional style or a more avant-garde interpretation. I also like to see how that continuity presents itself in these diverse categories.
What are you reading?
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer; I got this book as a gift from a friend of mine before I left Minneapolis. The author combines her cultural knowledge and scientific knowledge with a very poetic writing style. Last night I read about how for many Native cultures, including Kimmerer’s, their creation stories involve Skywoman, who fell to the earth with plants in her hands ready to spread abundance. Kimmerer stated that she was welcomed by the animals who worked with her (Skywoman) to create a beautiful home. Kimmerer then juxtaposed that story against the Christian story of Eve who was blamed for damning mankind to an existence of suffering. I liked how Kimmerer gave these two stories as examples of how indigenous thought differs from Euro-american thought and why perhaps we draw different conclusions from similar situations.
Interesting exhibit, gallery opening or work of art you’ve seen recently.
I was really interested in the work of Dana Warrington (Menominee/ Potawatomi), which I just got to see at the Santa Fe Indian Market, along with the work of Venancio Aragon (Diné). Dana’s work was technically very precise with a lot of quillwork, which is always so beautiful. He did a take on a traditional otter bag from his community, which can be tricky because of its affiliation to some sacred medicine teachings. He tried to create it in a good way that didn’t infringe on the normal protocols of his tribe, so I hope his community will think he succeeded.
Aragon’s work was a bright, multi-colored textile. I had never seen something like that before. I’m not an expert in weaving, but to me it seemed very complicated to do and the result was simply beautiful.
What are you researching at the moment?
I’ll be doing a lot of research to support the upcoming re-installation of the Denver Art Museum’s permanent collection objects in the renovated and soon-to-open Martin Building. There’s so much to know! The DAM has so many artworks and not just from the most recognizable communities, but from a wide variety of nations who don’t always get the attention that some others do. I’m very curious to learn more about those and to remind people just how many diverse Native nations there are in the United States.
What is your dream exhibit to curate? Or see someone else curate?
I heard the exhibition I would have loved to do—a retrospective on Jaune Quick-to-see Smith—is being done by the Whitney Museum of American Art. I hope I’ll get to write for the catalog, though. Also, I would love to do an exhibition on the history of Native painting from historical times to the present.