Angela Babby (Lakota, born 1964) Melt: Prayers for the People and the Planet, 2019 Kiln-fired vitreous enamel on glass mosaic on tile board, Image courtesy of Angela Babby, Photo by Angela Babby, © Angela Babby.
By Betsy DiJulio
With a title like Clearly Indigenous, the temptation is to extend the pun with descriptions like “groundbreaking” or a “window” into the Contemporary Native Arts movement. And this exhibition is both and more.
Showcasing—literally, in beautifully lit cases—approximately 120 glass art objects created by twenty-nine Native artists from twenty-six tribes in the US and Canada, two Australian Aboriginal artists, two Māori artists, plus Dale Chihuly, this exhibition fuses—see what I did there?—a long tradition of story and symbolism with nontraditional means and modes.
But why Chihuly? Not only are his name and his Pilchuk Glass School synonymous with the Studio Glass Movement. But, inspired for decades by American Indian textiles, he also collaborated in 1974 with artist and educator Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) to establish the first hot shop at Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts, teaching, mentoring, and passing the (blow) torch.
Okay, but why an indigenous glass exhibition in Virginia and why at the Chrysler? Virginia has a deep and complex relationship to Native populations—recognizing eleven tribes from three language groups—with indigenous ties that have shaped our culture dating back thousands of years. And for the museum’s part, not only does it own a world-renowned glass collection with which this exhibition dovetails, but in 2023 the institution formally honored the original stewards of Tsenacommacah, the land on which it sits, by installing a land acknowledgement statement on a bronze plaque in Huber Court.
Museums tend to have two kinds of visitors: object lookers and signage readers. Here, you will want to do both. Exhibitions are tricky enterprises in terms of many factors, including cultural sensitivity and balance. The former is addressed in attractive wall signage—along with a colorful map—at the entrance. What do we call indigenous people? The short answer is whatever they prefer to be called, as they are not monolithic.
In terms of balance, the curators achieved a masterful equipoise of objects and written words. Glowing and mouthwatering color, bold forms, and intricate designs and motifs offer a peak aesthetic immersion. And the labels for each piece respectfully include not only the standard information, but the artist’s tribal affiliation. Label readers will note the frequent inclusion of Preston Singletary’s name, for this renowned Tlingit artist mentored and collaborated with many of the artists in addition to creating his own widely regarded work.
Also, interspersed throughout the galleries with their blue walls as counterpoints to the hot-colored glass, are didactic panels that convey what the curators refer to as “intellectual content.” Economical in their language, these panels provide neither too much or too little information for understanding the social, historical, and spiritual context of these widely diverse, technically brilliant, and mostly three-dimensional works.
Through the panels, viewers gain a clearer sense of the structure of the exhibition design with sections devoted to cultural items, connections with nature, and heritage vs. contemporary life. Though there is overlap, in the first category are reinterpretations in glass of Northwest Coast vessels, Pueblo pottery, and textiles. In the second are animals of the sea, land, and air. And in the last are tributes to the ancestors and pieces that weave together the Native and non-Native worlds.
No doubt all these artists have varied, if related, reasons for re-contextualizing traditional materials, functional and ritual objects, narratives, and belief systems in glass: some technical and some metaphorical. Especially resonant is an example of the latter, shared in the form of a quote decalled to the wall:
My glass sculptures are especially important to me because of the spiritual effects I’m able to achieve using glass as the medium. I think that the translucent effect of the glass helps to create the sense of being able to see through the current world and into the world of my ancestors.” ~Lillian Pitt (Wasco/Yakima/Warm Springs), artist
You will want to run your hands along the surfaces of these sensual objects with their rich cultural significance linking past and present. But you can’t. However, you can interact with four tactile examples. Though the mini “Touch Station” is installed at a height suggesting it is intended for children, I could have caresses the simply framed and labeled blow, cast, fused, and blasted glass for hours.
Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass was originated by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it was curated by Dr. Letitia Chambers and Cathy Short (Potawatomi). The traveling exhibit was curated by Dr. Chambers and is toured by International Arts & Artists.
WANT TO SEE?
Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass
Through September 4
The Chrysler Museum of Art
