Interviewed by Caitlin Donald

Spring 2010

Tanis S’eiltin’s work emphasizes traditional Tlingit technique and material in which she utilizes to deliver uniquely contemporary and political forms. Her work begs for exploration through intricate, vivacious, and provocative design. It has been my privilege to interview Tanis about her work and artistic processes, her identity, and about creating art that matters.

Caitlin Donald: I am very curious about your If I Only Had a Seaworthy Vessel installation. I understand this was in collaboration with Nata Lukas involving the concept of journey. Can you talk further about the inspiration for the elements within this installation? What was this journey for you?

Tanis S’Eiltin: The primary inspiration for this collaborative installation was the opportunity to work with Nata Lukas who initially secured the gallery space. Together we decided to include natural elements we collected and were continuing to collect from local beaches. Our timeframe for creating the installation was brief and we had already begun our usual migration to visit the spring tides. Nata’s collection of large drift-roots, which he had previously collected over a period of a couple of years, served as the impetus for the installation that would suggest as the viewer moved through it, a journey through an underwater world.

If I Only Had a Seaworthy Vessel

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Interview by Amanda Rhoads

March 2010

Gail Tremblay is an artist with skills using a wide variety of materials to create art. At the Portland Art Museum, I stood with my class viewing the Native American galleries. My instructor Wendy Red Star mentioned that the film basket made by Gail Tremblay in one of the display cases was one of the few examples of contemporary Native art in that section. This fact intrigued me. Wendy then added that Gail is known as an articulate writer. The art of writing is something to which I am increasingly drawn. It was this day in the museum and Wendy’s comments that inspired me to interview Gail Tremblay. In our interview Gail provided references to works that communicate the complex, thoughtful, and inspiring process of making art.

And Then There is the Hollywood Indian Princess, 2002Sculpture - 16 mm film, metallic braid  9 x 7.25 x 7.25 inches

Ms. Tremblay used an educational film about sexually transmitted diseases to create this basket. It was included in the ArTrain exhibit of contemporary Native American Art curated by Joanne Osbourne Bigfeather, and in Tattered Cultures, Mended History, curated by Mary Babcock, at the Academy Art Center, Honolulu, HI 2008, and it was reviewed, Artweek November 2008. It is in the collection at the Hailie Ford Museum at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. (Froelick Gallery)

Indian Princess in a White Dress, 2006Sculpture - 16 mm film, metallic braid  

9 x 7 x 7 inches

Amanda Rhoads: It was mentioned that your works are “reclaiming native history.” The piece “Indian Princess in a White Dress,” would seem to need more explanation to convey a message of reclamation of Native history to an audience without any knowledge of Native history. As it is alone, a person might easily experience the piece as another stereotypical Indian image. Does it matter if people consciously “get” your piece, or is the energy and intent enough, and further explanation would actually take away from the intended experience? 

Indian Princess in a White Dress, 2006

Sculpture - 16 mm film, metallic braid  
9 x 7 x 7 inches

Gail Tremblay: Where was it mentioned that my works are “reclaiming native history”?

Some do, but some of my film baskets comment on images of Indians in the media, some play with and make ironic commentary on stereotyping, I am enclosing a slide list that will help you understand something about how I use/choose materials and write titles. You might also want to look at the article in the July/August art ltd. magazine on the work in my April/May exhibit in the Froelick Gallery for insight about my film baskets. I am also including an artist statement about the film baskets in particular, and an artist statement that talks about various periods of my work which was in the gallery notebook for a retrospective exhibit I did in 2001 called Twenty Years in the Making. It is hard to reduce the work I show to a single theme, although works of a particular period may relate to a particular theme.

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Interview by Jong Seong Lee

March 2010 
 
Amelia Winger-Bearskin is a performance artist that I interviewed for this blog project. The first video I watched of Amelia’s work was “State of Things” the language use and the change of her appearance in the video caught my attention, and that was why I wanted to interview her. In this interview, I ask Amelia Winger-Bearskin about her decisions to do performance art after training as an Opera singer, her perspective and experience as an artist, and commentaries for some of her videos. 

Epic Sci Fi Rock Opera by Paper Landscapes a retelling of the Iroquois Creation Mythperformed at Volitant Art Gallery, Austin Texas 2007 with Joseph Winchester and Jonathan Aseron

Jong Seong Lee: How did you decided to do performance art, after having trained as an Opera singer?

Amelia Winger-Bearskin: I was an opera singer, a dancer, an actress, and I composed original music for operas and theatre performances as well as made a living as a dance choreographer for the new cabaret genre (including burlesque), before finding my place in performance art. While I enjoyed the world of opera and theatre enormously, something that I didn’t have in the theatre was significant participation with the audience. My artworks in the last few years has incorporated more and more participation from the audience, however it is actually not my goal to have ‘participation’ from the audience, I’d be happy to eliminate the concept of audience altogether and instead have a meeting place for something to happen, I like that sort of excitement, a place where something could happen and is less fixed. There was however one place in the theatre that created a feeling like that, here is a quote from the text I wrote for my most recent work Performance for an Audience of One:

“Behind the scenes, back stage, in our dressing room, before or after or during the show, we would be performing for each other while changing our clothes. We would trip over sleeping actors as we practiced our dance steps or singing our lines while sewing a split seam. We passed the time in hushed voices waiting for our cue, sometimes staring into each others eyes while we powdered our faces, and we performed for each other the way you can for your sister or your mother, we performed the way you do for a lover when we all know all the words. I felt an energy in the dressing room, I didn’t need the stage lights or the audience, here waiting with you, I was home.”

In this new performance an audience member gets an appointment time and then chooses from a list of words, each word represents a performance, I invite them to my dressing room where I host this performance for one person, however the performance is actually done equally by both of us, some of the actions include: drinking tea, brushing each others hair or listening to a mix tape, to name a few. They are things that you’d do with your friend, with your lover, and things that commonly occur backstage in dressing rooms between fellow performers. The backstage space is so intimate, its where you prepare to perform, its not the audience its not the stage, it is a third space, it is an in-between space, a no space where things are yet to be written or are waiting to end. I’ve often termed this conceptual place in my work a “hybrid no space”; it is a theme that runs through a lot of my work.

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Interview by Saamantha Lee

March 2010

The reason I chose Jim Denomie as the artist for this blog was my emotional response to his paintings; I had a certain “de-ja-vu” feeling and remembered images from a dream I had several years ago, in which I saw painted horses and people moving about, so I wanted to pursue my dream, in a sense. Originally he focused on black and white photography and also did some black and white prints and oil pastel drawings. His most recent work is what really caught my eye; it struck me as being completely original, and the messages it sent out are very powerful statements, daring as they are original; forcing the viewer to reflect on injustices and events that are still going on today that disrespect the humanity of Native Americans of all tribes, but specifically the tribes and reservations in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The following images illustrate some of the changes in Jim’s work over the last few years. I wanted to understand his process and technique of applying the paint to canvas, and he revealed that as well as providing an overview of the way he has achieved balance between painting and the everyday world. His use of brilliant colors, often used in what might be called a “psychedelic” style, where, for example faces are portrayed without any relation to the colors of skin as we see it, “as if it were just for fun like being back in middle school.” The brightly colored portraits painted one a day for a whole year, were shown in the “New Skins” exhibit at Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 2007, hung grouped together as if they were one piece.

 

Shooting Stars, 2001

 

The Journey #2, 2001

 

Sustenance, 1995

Seeking Mercy, Still, 1997

Rabbit, 2002

 A great change occurred in his work around 1996 – 1997 when he began painting surreal and brightly colored images where trees and rivers took on the forms of tall slim women with arms becoming branches reaching into the sky.

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Interview by Judy Fleming

March 2010

I was drawn to Marcus Amerman’s beadwork immediately. I was intrigued with his use of traditional technique in contemporary modes, addressing political and social issues regarding his Choctaw Nation heritage. While the objects themselves are deeply rooted in meaning, taken out of context they remain shockingly beautiful in both color and design. Along with his visual work, Marcus Amerman continues to create unconventionally with performance pieces such as “Buffalo Man.” The images below are courtesy of the artist. 

 
Buffalo Man in Labyrinth, 2008 

 

 
 
Tanned Buffalo Head

Judy Fleming: I want to learn more about your performance piece with “Buffalo Man.” Did that become an artist persona of yours? What political ideas did you wish to touch on wearing the buffalo head?

Marcus Amerman: Buffalo Man is controversial. I’ve had people walk out of my performances. But a medicine person I talked to said to me that my detractors couldn’t argue with the fact that I have that head. The Creator and the Buffalo People made sure that it got into my hands, into the hands of someone who would use it. I traded a bracelet for this tan buffalo head. I fit it to my head and attached my horns and then I let it take over. I am a mere accessory to my buffalo head mask. I feel that the Buffalo Man is a spirit of the Earth and pushes me to speak for the Earth and for balancing man’s relationship with nature. I saw in anarchaeology magazine an illustration of a Buffalo Man carved into a pillar in a cave. It was 36,000 years old. My theory is that the Buffalo Man reemerges into society when it has reached a critical crossroads. If that society accepts the Buffalo Man into it, it signifies hope and redemption for the culture. If, on the other hand, he is rejected by society the society is doomed. 

JF: So, when you wear the Buffalo head, you let it take over. What does an experience like that feel like? You also mentioned that the Buffalo Man reemerges when a society is at a critical crossroads. Has your experience led you to believe that our society might be doomed?

MA: Wearing the Buffalo head simply makes me think that that’s who I am and that’s how I look. The thought process parallels the same experience. It makes you think, “What would Buffalo Man do?” The future is uncertain. The potential for change in consciousness on a massive scale increases at these times. So the outcome could be the opposite of doom.

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Interview by Ronald Egger

March 2010

Ronald Egger: In your artist statement you say you have become impatient with the “Indian Art World.” Can you describe what this world is and how you may or may not fit in?

Image of Silver Hand Logo, a program designed to verify that the object is created by a native artist. The Silver Hand Program mission is to promote authentic Alaska Native art made in the state exclusively by an individual Alaska Native artist. The seal indicates that an article on which it appears is created by hand in Alaska by an individual Alaska Native artist. A permit is awarded for two years from the date issued and must be renewed every two years to remain active.

Nicholas Galanin: What do you think about programs such as the Silver Hand? Why do we need to verify everything Indian with a number, card, or certificate? The general perception of Indian Art is very misleading. Indian Art is life, humanity and all that we may creatively perceive. My impatience with this scene comes from all that binds the term. The Indian Art World is as I understand (at the moment), my culture’s internal and external being which includes my life experiences on many different social layers. Being brought up both in and away from my indigenous culture I have experienced a very different perspective on my heritage than my great grandparents would have known. The generational spread that our cultural community encompasses moves far beyond a romantic ideal commonly associated with the term Indian Art. We are being culturally dishonest if we reject all that passes through our culture. Economics and cultural objects, curio and collector, Indians and museum, history and the present. I often like to unravel the things that irritate the Indian in me, putting them back on the shelf with new meaning, clarity or focus. As an artist that contributes to my culture, I feel immense gratitude knowing that I am able to give to something greater, this feeling of belonging is the Indian Art World.

RE: What is the “cultural awareness” that you hope to develop through your artwork as mentioned in your artist statement? I am particularly curious about the idea of increasing awareness for both non-Natives and Native people. Is there a difference in the needed kind of awareness for each of these groups?

Tsu Héidei Shugaxtutaan I

Video: 4 minute 36 sec. loop, performance by David Elsewhere 

2006 

NG: Understanding the term culture is as difficult as defining the term. To become aware of this culture we must engage with it. The complexities of cultural growth and interaction create preconceived ideals, perspectives and viewpoints. Through action and creative risk taking, I, as an artist am able to partake in this cultural development. There are differences in every individual’s need for cultural awareness, the grouping or generalized terms, native, non-native, etc. are products of cultural cross roads.

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Interview by Sarah Curtis

March 2010
 
 
I have been living away from my desert home for about three years now. Though I’ve been immersed in lush, green, gorgeous Oregon working on my undergrad, I can feel my bones aching for smells, sites, sounds and the embraces I left behind in Phoenix. When I saw artist Steven Yazzie’s  work the aching in my bones dulled and I felt comfort. I was able to see and feel home through Steven’s eyes and the images were so rich and complex I couldn’t help but dive in headfirst. He seems to capture the physical tension, this sort of constant tug-of-war that holds The Valley in place and creates that palpable desert energy. Steven balances the surreal and the serious and to travel through his body of work is a complete experience – it’s beautiful, thought provoking, sad, funny, political, whimsical, stark, intimate… it is a gift and an immeasurable opportunity for growth to explore the canyon land through Steven Yazzie’s personal insight, paintings, installations, and collective endeavors.

Sarah Curtis: You seem to deal with the idea of place a lot in terms of connection to place and an interaction with Landscape. What about the idea of home? What is home for you? Is home stationary? Is it dependent on place and landscape?

Everywhere I Go I Take Another Place With Me

Steven Yazzie: Lately, the idea of place and home has become something I’m more interested in as a point of departure in my work. When I think of home, or the idea of home, I tend to think both of the geographic place I’m from and where I’m living today. I grew up in small rural communities on and off the Navajo Reservation: Black Mesa, LeChee, and Page, Arizona. I eventually moved to Phoenix later during my high school years, and ended up back here after the military and traveling around the country. There is something for me about living in the desert and coming from canyon land that gives me a connected feeling, and in those places I’m home. I don’t think sentimentally about it as much as I think context, experience, and relationship. This could get more abstract, so to answer your question, yes, place and landscape are big factors for me. 

SC: In Coyote Interiors, do you see the coyotes as adapting to the current sprawl of the valley, or the valley having to eventually adapt or concede to the coyotes? Is that maybe the ongoing struggle physically and psychologically?

Modernity’s Sunset

SY: The coyotes I‘m painting represent the idea of adaptation itself. I want the meaning of these figures to be flexible as they represent different things for different people, especially in the indigenous community. For me, they are the instigation and an adaptation metaphor within the larger narrative of expansion, growth, and development of man-made communities. The coyotes are the intersection of the natural and man-made. I started this series with the sprawl of Phoenix in mind. Now that the real-estate market collapsed recently, it seems that the coyotes are invading the space, giving the sense of an apocalyptic feel, which I think is just as interesting.

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Interview by Ida Galash

March 2010

When I saw my first Terrance Houle video I knew instantly that he was an artist unique in his field. As I watched the images unfold on the screen I wanted to know what was behind Houle’s work. It had such an open and engaging feel to it, sincerity and a sense of urgency to tell a story. I was intrigued; his work left me thinking. It was an easy decision for me to select Terrance Houle as the Contemporary North American Indigenous Artist that I wished to work with for this blog project and I was delighted when Mr. Houle agreed to participate. The more I researched his work, the more I sensed his pride in his heritage and his desire to share and preserve his connections to his People and their history.

Ida M Galash: I read in one interview that in high school you were into skateboarding, punk music and art (and not the subjects and the system presented in the school.) Did you have an art teacher or mentor who influenced you or did you find your path on your own at that young age?

Terrance Houle: In public high school and most schools growing up, my sibling and I were often the only ones that were Aboriginal. In Canada we have Social studies and English classes where we study Canadian History via the School system. In many of the classes I was often faced with having to look at history of First Nations Peoples in Canada as kind of one sided colonial stance, meaning the school curriculum dictated that history did not start until the White settlers came to this area. Growing up Powwow dancing and going to a lot of Ceremonies, I knew this to be only half a story. Early on in age I would speak out about this but was often stifled and disciplined. So when I was in Jr. High and High school, I got really into Punk, Metal and Skateboarding, to me these represented a means to speak out and to be different which was something I always had been faced with by simply being Blackfoot /Ojibway living inner city as an Army brat. I found my own way with the help of friends who played in local bands and others who were into punk art like Winston Smith: http://www.winstonsmith.com/. I really loved the social Political aspects of music, bands, and the artists making work for all these bands, very DIY. I remember plastering my room with Gig Posters, Albums and listening to Butthole Surfers while drawing and such. I think my parents thought I was a Satanist or something back then, as my mom would leave pamphlets on my bed all the time. 
 
IMG: You have indicated that, initially, the art work you made was a response to “being called down” for who you are, instead of punching someone. That’s a powerful decision to have made. Did that approach come easily or was it a struggle to arrive at? What are some of the works that you made that you think are examples of that impulse?

TH: Well don’t get me wrong, I certainly wasn’t a saint and people would often just come right up to me to prove something to me or exhibit their dominance over me because I was Native. I would get into a lot of physical confrontations. I guess in my teens I would just think of these situations and try to emulate the complexity and ridiculousness of why people have such racism, stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination towards the “other”. Identity is such a huge thing at this age and identity is a massive issue with Native peoples in North America; we are born political and numbered.
I am always intrigued by this, the social political ongoing of the west vs. the other. I remember an earlier work I did in High school where I created this sculpture of a clown laughing at a TV with George Bush Sr.’s image on the screen. I thought it was hilarious that a clown would find humor in politics; it seemed kind of dark. I was listening to a lot of Bad Religion at the time. So anyways I think that’s what I always kind of think of in many of my works. The view “Something just doesn’t seem right here?” what can it be?

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Interview by Ana Briseno

March 2010

John Feodorov is an artist, musician, and teacher born and raised in between Los Angeles and the ‘White Horse’ region of New Mexico. I had the privilege to interview John last month. We talked about responsibility, desperation, and funny art.

100% Hybrid #1 - Mixed media on paper, 50 ” x 30 “, 2010

100% Hybrid #2 - Mixed media on paper, 50 ” x 30 “, 2010

Ana Briseno: My first encounter with your work was at a lecture you gave last May at the Portland Art Museum. I still have the flyer for the event pinned on a wall near my desk to remind me of things you talked about. It was fascinating to hear you speak about spirituality, appropriation, and being a Native American artist. There is certainly not enough discussion or consideration of those types of topics in the art world. I would like to begin with a question about that lecture:Your consideration in talking about responsibility and ambiguity was very interesting to me. Since the lecture I have continued to think about those subjects and my ideas on those issues constantly change and shift. Have your thoughts changed or further developed on the topics of responsibility and ambiguity within your work?

John Feodorov: I don’t completely remember the context of my statement, but I’ll try and clarify what I think I meant. I feel that artists not only have a responsibility to make work that is more than merely self-expression, but also to understand their subject and their relationship to that subject. Unintended ambiguity is simply the result of ignorance, or worse, laziness. That said, ambiguity can be a useful strategy in allowing the viewer the opportunity to engage with the work, without feeling preached to or accused. I think the best strategy is one that results in the viewer’s self-incrimination because I believe this realization is much more difficult for the viewer to ignore. True, it may not happen in front of the artwork, but Art has a funny way of sticking with people. I guess I prefer planting seeds to pointing fingers. So the ambiguity I’m talking about is not really ambiguity at all, but a well-planned strategy disguised as ambiguity.

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Interview by Katie Ross

March 2010

Joe Feddersen is a multi-media artist who includes patterns from the past with modern-day patterns. He gets these patterns from the landscape around him, just like his ancestors did. The main difference between these landscape patterns is that they used to come from mountains and rivers, but now come from bricks and parking lots. Joe Feddersen makes his work about investigating these concepts.

Above: Parking Lot, Middle: Fish Trap Series, Bottom: Freeway With HOV

Katie Ross: What aspects of being an artist do you enjoy? What aspects of teaching or being an educator did you enjoy?

Joe Feddersen: I really enjoy making things and I’m really curious. A lot of my work is about investigation, it’s about thinking about things and exploring ideas.

KR: Do you prefer to do either solo or group work? And does the outcome differ for either way?

JF: Well I enjoy working by myself but sometimes working as a group is really interesting too, it kind of depends on the project. Sometimes you’re working in group situations and that can be really fantastic or a lot of times your work can end up being more isolated.

KR: All of your work has a very contemporary look to it but also has traditional influences. Would you consider yourself a contemporary artist but also a traditional one?

JF: I guess I would consider myself somewhere in a broad spectrum in between the two. Connotations of tradition there’s a lot of things I don’t do so I guess I would consider myself at the extreme end of tradition.

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Interview by Ross Goodman

March 2010

When I first viewed Jeffrey Gibson’s work, I was instantly drawn to his brightly layered and dimensional paintings. Gibson’s innovative approach to abstract art has allowed the New York artist to find his place in the contemporary art world.

Monotype - 2008

Ross Goodman: Your resume is very extensive. I noticed that you have spent time living, studying, and working in many locations around the world. In what way did those places (Colorado, London, Chicago, New Mexico, Brooklyn) and the people you encountered in them influence your work?

 Jeffrey Gibson: Moving around for the majority of my life influenced my work in many different ways. I did not realize that I was nomadic in so many senses. I don’t have “roots” anywhere in a physical sense and have always considered where I currently live “home”. The experience has made definitions of home, place, identity, time, and culture very complex and multi layered for me. I have also been influenced by the varying aesthetics of each place. Some have had specific cultural aesthetics, language barriers, cultural barriers, etcetera. These differences funnel through me, a queer Native male born toward the end of the 20^th century and entering the 21^st century. I consider this hybrid in the construction of my work and attempt to show that complexity.

Monotype - 2008

RG: I really enjoy the Monotypes from 2008 on your website can you tell me about the ideas that inspired these works? It seems that mouths and eyes are a theme in most of them. What is it about these facial features that captured your interest?

 JG: Each monotype features the same eyes and mouth. They are anonymous in the sense that the “face” was made from three different images of people pulled from the internet. This person does not exist. I consider myself an abstract process based artist and am always intrigued by the relationship between image and abstraction. When an image is placed in front of an abstraction, the abstraction often reads as background or environment. In these prints I wanted to have the backgrounds inform the reading of each face, the same face altered by it’s environment. The identity of this face shifts from print to print. The responsibility of the reading falls somewhere between what I have put out there and the viewer to determine any identifying factors. 
 

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Interview by Monica Harris

March 2010

Flag - 2004

I chose Marie Watt for this interview because her work is very versatile and unique. Marie Watt works in sculpture, printmaking, drawing, and installation which I found to be very inspiring. At the Portland Art Museum, I viewed a Marie Watt sculpture. The sculpture had a very strong presence and made me curious to learn more about her work. As I explored her past and present works I found a lot of interesting details that she incorporates in her work; natural elements, community involvement, and reclaimed wool blankets. 

Monica Harris: When you are looking for secondhand blankets at Goodwill stores etc, how do you choose a blanket? Are you looking for something specific? 

Marie Watt: I do go to thrift stores. My favorite has a sale every Saturday, everything but the new tag color for that week is 50% off on that day. I purchase any wool blanket that is $5 or less. But otherwise I don’t look for a particular type of blanket. I’ve been exposed to so many styles, colors, weights, tags, textures and stories with this approach. 

MH: You have done a lot of community events including lectures, visiting artist residencies, and have involved the public with your projects. Why do you choose to involve the community with some of you projects?

Sewing circle - Marie Watt’s studio

MW: At first there was a necessity. I had a deadline and in order to have a social  life I invited friends to stitch as a way of hanging out. I promised I would feed them well and told them they didn’t need any sewing experience. The community collaborations grew from there. People seem to have an interest in gathering in this way and the Sewing Circles became a more regular event. So much of our lives and relationships are mediated by technology, so gathering in the context of Sewing Circles seems to be a welcome alternative. I have come to think of each person’s stitch as being unique and signature-like. These stitches also form a web and I think of this as a metaphor for how we are all connected. There is something neighborly about the sewing circles and I even like to compare them to a barn raising in the sense that many hands make light work. When your eyes are diverted and you are stitching cloth, there is no pressure to speak, but people do. Experiences and stories are shared by friends and strangers alike. The storytelling element is incredibly rich. I feel lucky to be hanging out, sharing and learning, in community with interesting people.  In this way, the process for me is as important as the end result. I also see community as an indigenous and a family value. It’s just connected to who I am. 

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