Native Motion

On exhibition April 1, 2023 - June 26, 2023, in the  Salz-Pollak Atrium Gallery of Pollak Library .

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ABOUT THE CURATOR

Dr. Eric Tippeconnic, faculty in American Indian Studies at California State University, San Marcos.

 

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

This exhibit, Native Motion, celebrates resistance and cultural resilience. The artists in this exhibit represent only a small snapshot into the diversity that is Native America. These artists were selected because their work reflects both cultural tradition and contemporary innovation. Their work demonstrates an unbroken connection to their cultural roots while evolving in bold contemporary forms and is a metaphor for twenty-first century Native peoples. This movement is not linear nor is it intended to distance us from our history. This motion is cyclical and provides continuous connections with our roots. This is Native Motion.

 

Contributing Artists

 Eric Tippeconnic, Ph.D. is an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma.  He is the son of Norman Tippeconnic Sr., grandson of John Tippeconnic and great grandson of Teppeconnic (Tupi-Kuni).  Tippeconnic, born circa 1852, was a member of the Quahada (Antelope) Division of Comanche.  Eric's mother, Kirsten Tippeconnic, hails from Copenhagen, Denmark.  Eric's interest in painting and art is heavily influenced from living and working on and near numerous reservations and Native communities, as well as from frequent travel to Denmark.  Eric's cultural diversity and love of history and art from an early age helped develop his interest and passion for creating from the moment he could hold a pencil. 

Using bright, rich and vibrant color combinations, Eric utilizes his artwork to capture movement that serves as a metaphor and boldly states that Native American cultures, while intimately connected to their history, are in fact contemporary, alive, and constantly evolving.  When Eric completed his Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico, he became the first Comanche to receive a Ph.D. in the field of history.  Eric worked as a lecturer for eight years at California State University, Fullerton before taking a tenured track faculty position in the American Indian Studies department at California State University, San Marcos.

Karin Walkingstick's foray into professional art making occurred later in life than it does for many artists.  A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Walkingstick has had a passion for art and creative expression since a young age; however, it was not until raising a family that, in 2013, she found the time to venture into a pottery class taught by Cherokee National Treasure Jane Osto.  There, she discovered a joy of working with clay that altered her life.  It was a change illustrated in a career that quickly advanced and has earned Walkingstick commercial and critical success in her practice.

In an artistic career spanning 10 years, Walkingstick has already garnered numerous honors, including first place in contemporary pottery at Santa Fe Indian Market, first place at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona and Best of Class at Cherokee Art Market.  She has been a consistent participant in regional markets and exhibitions.  She recently opened her own studio in Claremore, Oklahoma and looks forward to teaching there.

Walkingstick's early experience as a member of Osti's class turned into a mentorship dynamic with Osti, who introduced Walkingstick to techniques echoing those of her Cherokee culture.  In creating her pottery, Walkingstick uses methods handed down through generations of artists, employing Southeastern design elements as she creates one-of-a-kind works that force her to challenge and expand on her creative sensibilities.

Though grounded in the techniques gleaned from her work under Osti, as Walkingstick developed in her work as an artist, she was inspired to take it in new directions.  Her methods now include the addition of color using varying materials.  She uses commercial and hand dug clay, fires in a kiln or open ground fire and her pieces are hand-coiled and finished with stone burnishing to ensure strength and a smooth surface.

Though experimental at first, Walkingstick's pieces rapidly became popular, with the demand helping drive momentum for a career that continues to ascend.

Rodney Haring, Ph.D. a citizen of the Seneca Nation of Indians (adjacent to New York State, USA), Dr. Haring is an artist, social worker, and world-renown health disparities researcher.  As an artist, he works in the medium of wood and creates site-specific installations and interventions that engage Indigenous stories, practices, relationships, and knowledges.  Haring's work is a collection of community based participatory art and blends Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) knowledge systems and Western science.  The ancient Indigenous art of steam-bending, woodcarving, and weaving of ancestral lacrosse sticks are a cultural form of resistance and resilience.  These works share Indigenous knowledge in lacrosse teachings  as medicine, art, and community wellness.  Further, Dr. Haring carries teachings beyond traditional stick-making into the realm of art by showcasing "story sticks".  In this format and through presentation, he shares "beyond the grain" in a community based participatory fashion by engaging artists to co-create and coalesce talents into unique pieces of art forms that portray history of the game, science, war, and medicine.

Monica Zavala is an enrolled member of the Gabrieliño/Tongva Nation as well as a member of the Acjachemen nations.  She specializes in illustration, painting, sculpture, creative writing and digital art.  She has graduated from the California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM) in 2021 with a bachelor's in Art, Media, and Design.  Following graduation, Monica has continued to work close within the local native communities as she is currently employed at the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center as the project coordinator.  Working close with different native communities, she has been able to document and focus on the issues, traditions, and ceremony practices of the local native communities within her work.  The current paint series is titled "'Anaangere 'Ekwaa Woon", which translates as "We Are Still Here".  Each painting tells a story of the important roles and traditions of these individuals using the actions of their hand as the story-teller.

 

RELATED PROGRAMMING

Opening Reception:

Saturday April 1st, 2023

2:00 PM, Pollak Library, PLN-130

(open to the public, no RSVP required)

 

Exhibit Location

On exhibition April 1, 2023 - June 26, 2021, in the  Salz-Pollak Atrium Gallery of Pollak Library .