Indigenous Group Exhibition: Storytelling
May 4 — June 29, 2024
Cover image: Sue Gallego, The Tender Sacred of the Woman (detail), 2024, acrylic on MDF board. Photo © Don Dexter Gallery
Indigenous artists are often underrepresented in or excluded from gallery spaces. As an Indigenous-owned gallery, representation is a core principle of our mission. Our Emerging Indigenous Artist Series is intended to elevate Indigenous artists while also providing our non-Indigenous community an opportunity to interact with Indigenous art and culture.
All proceeds from this group exhibition go directly to the artists.
For all artwork purchase inquiries, please contact us at sales@dondextergallery.com and include the artist and title of the artwork.
Featured Artists
About
“Storytelling” is a group exhibition comprising paintings, prints, woodwork, and beadwork from emerging Indigenous artists Jessica Doe, Sue Gallego, Nick Labonte, Christy Long ᎦᎸᎶᎢ ‘Galvloi’, Rayne Pelham, and Leo Whitehorse; and an original painting by Ka’ila Farrell-Smith. Come along for an opening reception on Saturday, May 4, 1 to 4pm. All are welcome!
Don Dexter Gallery is located at 2911 Tennyson Ave, #202, in Crescent Village (east side of The Inkwell building on the 2nd floor).
Above: Christy Long ᎦᎸᎶᎢ ‘Galvloi’ Heaven ‘ᎦᎸᎳᏗ’ Galvladi (detail), 2024, poplar dough bowl, natural dyes, ochre, acrylic paint and lacquer. Photo © Don Dexter Gallery
Jessica Doe
Jessica Doe, PhD is a multi-award-winning Aniyunwiya interdisciplinary poet and artist. As a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, space, place, and de-colonization are the driving forces behind her work, which includes several books and exhibitions. Her doctoral work addressed the meeting point of eating disorders and female poetics with an emphasis on Indigenous literature and sovereign medicine. She recently returned from India where she was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Bengaluru and curated a poetry anthology in the colonizer’s tongue. Jessica has received several writer-in-residencies around the world which were pivotal in supporting the creation of 15 books during her career, such as the Hosking Houses Trust residency with an appointment at The Shakespeare Birthplace (Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK) and the Acequia Madre House post (located on the occupied lands typically called “Santa Fe, New Mexico”).
Her recent exhibitions include the Ucross Gallery (Wyoming), Walters Cultural Arts Center (Hillsboro), and Kala Art Gallery (Berkeley). Her poetry collection that Indigenizes the tarot deck, [sp]RED, is slated to release in 2024 by Red Planet Books.
Sue Gallego
Sue Gallego’s identity as an Indigenous woman of Lakota and Mexican heritage has shaped her artistic development, representing vital aspects and incentives of her work. She draws inspiration from the stories and emotional values of her people, especially those of personal insight and vision. Primarily self-taught as a painter, she started working with oil-based chalk and eventually shifted to acrylics. She paints directly onto the surface of her choice, usually canvas or MDF board, and discovered early on that when she drew her images before painting them, she would exceed the limits of what she had drawn. She painted outside the lines, so it became easier to paint without drawing, allowing the painting to develop and blossom in that accord. This experimental process required confidence to explore and became an intuitive and engaging journey of freedom and discovery.
Nick Labonte
Nick Labonte is a member of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. His heritage comes mainly from Clatsop Chinook, and his ancestors originate from the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria. In 2008 Nick moved to the Grand Ronde area where he became involved with Canoe Family and started attending cultural events. Eventually accepting a position at the Chachalu Museum, he built his historical knowledge and discovered his passion for artwork and its connection to his culture. Mainly working in wood, his Chinook-style carving is practiced by only a handful of artists in his community. He is the first carver in six generations of his family and he carves to keep his ancestors’ art alive and carry this art forward for his son and community.
Christy Long, ᎦᎸᎶᎢ ‘Galvloi’
Christy Long, ᎦᎸᎶᎢ, ‘Galvloi’ is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians from the mountains of Western North Carolina and the Qualla Boundary. Practicing her indigenous culture with her family and keeping stories and traditions alive is immensely important. Her ancestors gifted her the ability to create and provide for her family through art forms she is passionate about. Her traditional family hails from a long lineage of wood carvers, and she is proud to follow a similar path but considers herself a self-taught artist focused primarily on depicting Southeastern indigenous iconography, myths, and legends through various methods such as engraving and woodburning. Still designing today, 30 years later, she is grateful to have found her purpose through trial and error, mistakes made, and lessons learned, as challenging and rewarding as that is. She is grateful to be connected and honored that her art forms allow her to share her passion, creations, and culture with you. When you procure a piece of her art, you are gaining more than an object; you are gaining her prayers, heart, soul, stories, and the code of her bloodline. Donadagohvyu
Rayne Pelham
Oregon native and true Native, as a descendant of her Hochuck and Ojibwe ancestors, Rayne Pelham’s art often includes some aspects of those details. Her works usually focus on subjects of her life, like the Pacific Northwest, her native culture, or her love for animals. She enjoys exploring mediums, but her most impressive works usually include some element of, if not entirely, beadwork. It’s a complex, detail-oriented process and takes hours to hand stitch these tiny size eleven seed beads to each canvas, but the results speak for themselves.
Leo White Horse
Sicangu Lakota artist Leo White Horse carries the inspiration of his Indigenous ancestry from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. His art is influenced by the quick sketches of cowboys, rodeos, and natives drawn by his father, Myers White Horse, long ago. After the passing of his parents when he was 12, he was sent to Sky Ranch for Boys. He was introduced to the work of Great Lakota artist Oscar Howe during a summer program at the University of South Dakota. Soon, he was placed with foster parents who took him to travel extensively cross-country through his teenage years. After High School, he was reunited in Klamath Falls with one of his brothers whom he had not seen since he was 12, and met and married his wife Barbara at this time. They soon moved to Eugene, where Leo attended college for graphic design and art, including painting and drawing. Once he received his certification as a graphic designer, he took up commercial work as a designer and illustrator on everything from billboards, apparel, hand-lettering, and online games. He balances his imagination and design skills between his commercial work and his passion for creating Indigenous art depicting the images of his ancestors and their stories.