Why would Native Americans believe in the Gospel of the invaders, the so-called “white man’s religion”? This is the internal struggle that this exhibition chooses to address. Told within the context of a history of deeply ingrained Christian practice among generations of Native peoples, artists Bobby C. Martin (Muscogee Creek), Erin Shaw (Chickasaw-Chocktaw), and Tony Tiger (Sac & Fox, Muscogee, Seminole) face the tensions created in their lives by the faith they practice. In Altars of Reconciliation, viewers experience contemporary, Native-themed altarpieces of sacred art, personal in their stories but universal in their struggle with eternal questions.

On February 2, we’ll be hosting an artist talk at our First Friday reception, where Bobby, Erin, and Tony will be sharing more in depth about their creative processes and the personal stories that led to these pieces.

Wrestling, sparring, pretend and fantasy allows us to practice for the real world, a real world that asks individuals to engage in a social economy. In this social economy we sell the body as a product forever blurring the lines between consent, maturity, play and desire. Here we lose sight of individuality and fall into our roles. The part of the child, the man and the woman become intertwined in a pageant of desire. Toys and photographs engage us in never ending foreplay, forever wiring our brains to fulfill a predetermined destiny towards this inescapable narrative.

Join us on First Friday for an opportunity to learn the concept and motivation behind our Valentine’s exhibition. Kathryn Marie Hogan and Philo Northrup will take the floor at 7.

Time is a Circle: Generational Craft Practices, includes the work of Mona Cliff, Wansoo Kim, Hùng Lê, Jada Patterson, Jason Wang, and Aleah Washington.

The public is invited to the exhibition’s opening reception from 6 to 8 pm. The exhibition includes work by Mona Cliff, Wansoo Kim, Hùng Lê, Jada Patterson, Jason Wang, and Aleah Washington, and runs through February 3, 2024.

For centuries craft practices have been passed from generation to generation keeping traditions alive and preserving history, while building communities through the making process. These shared practices are a testament to the resilience and perseverance of many cultures throughout the world.

The six artists in the exhibition use craft traditions to carry on generational practices while unearthing aspects of their own histories within a broader historical and artistic context.

Mona Cliff is an Aniiih, Nakota, and Eastern European artist whose beadwork and fabric applique are the foundation of her practice and heavily based in generational knowledge. Hung Le combines textile traditions with photography to examine his family history in the backdrop of the Việt Nam War and their immigration to the United States. Material culture and personal histories are at the center of Jada Patterson’s work. Using braided sweetgrass, Patterson references ritualistic healing and imparts power onto the mundane object. Wansoo Kim uses traditional ceramic Korean vessel forms and unorthodox ornamentation, to invite viewers to consider the revealed and the hidden, the internal versus the external. By embellishing the inside of his vessels, he reminds us to examine what is beyond outward appearances. Jason Wang draws on his Chinese heritage to create functional ceramic vessels that revolve around experiencing community. His textured teapots, cups and saucers, are intended to create a sensory experience that invokes a strong emotional response to further dialogue about identity, mental health, and mindfulness. Aleah Washington explores identity, environment, and community through her abstract wall hangings and functional ceramic work. She shares personal memories and reflects on shared histories using bold color on her quilted wall hangings and stitched pattern designs on her ceramics.The artists in the exhibition demonstrate a command of craft and a deep understanding of their role in safeguarding craft traditions and histories.

Terrain is a collection of landscape images created using the Wet Plate Collodion method of photography. Invented in the 1850s, wet plate collodion is an entirely hands-on process that allows me to connect to each step. From mixing my own chemistry to utilizing my portable darkroom to sensitize and develop each image, I am deeply involved from start to finish. Much like the wet plate photographers that came before me, I travel with my large format wooden cameras, my darkroom and chemistry, and a passion for landscapes larger than I can imagine. Instead of a covered wagon, I travel in my 1979 Chevy camper van, creating images of the world around me that can be held and shared for hundreds of years.

EXHIBITION CATALOG