In her Four Seasons series, Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke Nation, born Billings, Montana, 1981) creates diorama-like portraits, depicting each season. In this specific work, Fall, Red Star has set up a fake autumn backdrop, with leaves scattered around her, a plastic blow-up elk, and an animal’s skull to the right. Red Star has explained in … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Fall — Four Seasons”
While using his Quinault and Isleta-Pueblo heritage as inspiration for his art, Marvin Oliver quickly became one of the most prominent sculptors and printmakers in the Northwest. In his work, Orca, Oliver uses a mix of watercut, fused, and polished glass to create an orca’s docile fin, with steel at its base representing the water. … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Orca”
When you first see this work by Rick Bartow, what are the first emotions you see? Excited? Angry? Happy? Or something else? What about sound – what do you hear? What do you notice? I gave a tour to a school group last year and asked them, “what do you notice about this work of … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Old Time Picture I”
Preston Singletary has been working to make his culture known in the glass world since 1982 with works like Transference. He uses form line design and bases the images of his work off of stories and figures from his Tlingit heritage. The sleek black and vibrant red make the piece quite an eye catcher when … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Transference”
Marie Watt, a citizen of the Seneca Nation and born in Seattle, Washington, is known for her textile works, particularly those that involve the use of reclaimed blankets. She sees blankets as universal objects that are present globally and as well as at every stage of life. From birth to death, we are surrounded by … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Tear This Wall Down”
This sculpture by Spanish-born Manuel Izquierdo flows vertically, taking on an abstracted shape of a human body with an X shape for its head. As the name Iberian Venus implies, this figure represents the Roman goddess, Venus, and the title also brings in Izquierdo’s origins of the Iberian Peninsula. This sculpture takes on a different … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Iberian Venus”
Pendleton Wool blankets have a long and interesting history, starting in 1863 when Thomas Lister Kay immigrated from England to the Pacific Northwest and opened his woolen mill in Salem, Oregon. Eventually the business was passed down to his daughter and her husband and, generations later, would become the Pendleton Woolen Mills we know today. … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Yerba Buena, Buffalo Soldiers, Three Strikes (Yosemite)”
It is hard to believe that we are already in the autumn of 2020. Perfectly fitting for this time is Juan Alonso’s 1997 Fall. This acrylic painting features an abstract plant with beautiful, autumn colors of purple, mossy green, and gold-yellow. The background has grounding earth tones that help make the gold flowers front and … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Fall”
The bold, bright red and accents of blue in Alfredo Arreguín’s portrait of artist Frida Kahlo emit a vibrant, powerful image that is not anything new for Arreguín’s portfolio. His use of various abstract designs and floral patterns create a lively, yet subtle portrait that Frida seems to simply melt into given a lack of … Continue reading Object of the Week – “Frida’s Messengers”
