Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘Everything we do is an art form’
Native American artists share their work, journey in Michigan
PORT HURON, Mich. — For artist Jill Joseph, art has helped her heal and deal with the trauma of a loved one attempting to commit suicide.
For artist Dawn Silk, art is a compulsion, something she does for her spiritual health while also trying to share more about her culture.
For artist John Williams, art has given him a way to spend time with his son, working on pieces together while listening to tunes in their basement painting room.
But what all these Blue Water Area Native American artists share in common is their work connects to their culture in some way, they said.
Silk said it’s natural and everything from Native American beadwork to ribbon work is art.
“Everything we do is an art form,” she said.
Joseph said it wasn’t until 2017, after more family trauma, that she picked up a paintbrush for the first time. It helps her cope with daily life, which can be chaotic and stressful.
“I painted for me,” she said. “I painted to heal.”
Joseph, a Sarnia resident, is Ojibway, of the Anishnaabek people, and Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Three generations of her mother’s side were born in Port Huron, and she used to visit the area a couple times a year to see her great-grandmother.
Now she crosses consistently and is involved with local events, like Sturgeon Fest, and has sold two pieces at the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, she said.
“Port Huron feels more like home knowing that’s where all parts of my ancestry lived, served,” she said.
Although she picked up a paintbrush later in life, Joseph has done some form of art since she was little, using butter and flour to paint scenes, collecting pieces of birch wood to draw on and using charcoal from fires to draw.
Now she works with mainly acrylic paint, describing it as “abstract impressionism” with “moon swirls” that make her work identifiable. She usually doesn’t have a concept when she begins. She smudges, she prays, and she paints, she said.
Painting helps her feel connected to her ancestors and gives her a deeper relationship with the environment around her. Whether it’s her imagination or the paint brush, her art takes her back.
“I feel the cultural revitalization when I paint,” Joseph said.
People can find Joseph’s work on her Painted Horse Woman Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Silk, a Port Huron resident who is part of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, remembers her mom giving her a coloring book when she was 3 and showing her how to shade and texture.
“My mom started me young,” she said.
She started doing work in the Odawa style when she was in her 20s and started selling art at powwows. Now she does more pop art mixed with Odawa style, her most recent work on hardwood panel with acrylic, watercolor and gold leaf.
She is a full-time student at the University of Michigan-Flint studying psychology to become an art therapist. Although she’s busy, she tries to squeeze in creative time, which is important for her spiritual and emotional health. However, a lot of her inspiration comes at night.
“I can’t sleep; I have to get up and get my ideas out,” she said.
Silk said “the struggle” is what motivates her art.
It’s still hard for Native Americans to live in today’s society, Silk said. They’re still trying to practice their culture in a way they feel they need to, which means taking care of the environment and their bodies, she said.
So she tries to share a piece of her culture through her art, show people what it’s like as a Native American living in modern times — not in a political way, but with a pixelated computer feel with abstract Native people, she said.
“It’s like we’re still here, but we’re also adapting and trying to make it and grow,” Silk said.
Silk has had work at the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, and people can contact her on Facebook to learn more about her art.
When Williams paints, he does human figures doing activities people do in life. He captures expressions and hand motions, people engaged in dance, speaking or smudging, a ritual involving smoke.
He tries to make the scene come to life through the painting so people will smell the smoke from the smudging, hear the beat of the drum and the thumping heartbeat of the dancing.
“Hopefully, you’ll feel that,” he said.
Williams, a Sarnia resident, is part of the Ojibway tribe and the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. He has worked for DYCK Security Services out of Port Huron since 2005, he said.
He began to do art as soon as he could hold a crayon, probably around 4 or 5, he said. Many years later he prefers acrylics and has been painting for around 14 years, with his first solo show in 2008.
He took classes at Ontario College of Art, now Ontario College of Art & Design, from 1992 to 1994 and said he can be inspired by anything for his work, saying “it all comes from feelings.”
He does have a process though, and when he and his son, 8-year-old Theo, go to their painting room the first thing they do is put the tunes on, like Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd.
His son has helped him with a few pieces, and he’ll lay out stuff for Theo to do and mix his paints for him. He’s gotten a little more intricate in his work, Williams said.
As for Williams, he said he mostly focuses on Native American culture and people.
“Showing their beliefs and sharing their culture,” he said.
“I feel the cultural revitalization when I paint.”
— Jill Joseph, Native American artist