By Will Locascio
Art throughout history has thrived at the forefront of social movements and revolution. Whether it’s Picasso’s Guernica, a sharp portrayal of the agony of senseless violence during the Spanish Civil War, Jean-Michael Basquiat’s abstract interpretations of social dissonance amongst the black communities within inner cities across America, or the mythical Banksy’s works encompassing environmental collapse, anti-war and genocide pieces, and political corruption, revolutionary messages in art are necessary to stoke the flames of social discourse and change.
What can be said of a society that actively suppresses artistic speech, especially from the victims and survivors of generational oppression?
The Colorado ski-town of Vail made national headlines, in May, after doing exactly that, pulling the rug out from under a planned “Artist in Residency” program that they had arranged for this summer with Lakota artist Danielle SeeWalker.
SeeWalker has a dense portfolio of stunning paintings depicting both historical and present tales of Native American strife and success, heavily centered around Colorado history. A prevailing detail across her paintings is a hyper-realistic eye (singular) that peers out from the story being told by each of her different characters and representations of Native American plight.
“(The eye) came from a dream that I had a couple years ago where I was being followed by this woman who seemed like a woman from the past, like an ancestor, wearing a tradition Lakota elk tooth dress, she had hair that seemed to have a life of its own and her face was blurred out besides one distinct eye… It was almost like she was communicating to me through the expression in that eye.”
SeeWalker sees clear parallels between the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza and the physical and culture genocide of Native Americans, and SeeWalker’s piece, “G is for Genocide,” speaks to a solidarity with and an acknowledgment of the Palestinian people. The piece features her unique one-eyed abstract figure donning traditional keffiyeh and a dark tinged bird feather. The communicative ability of the unique, lone eye, to pierce the heart of the observer, is striking.
SeeWalker was approached in January to become the second official artist in residence for the town of Vail, providing her with a platform to bring artistic discussion of the turbulent history of Native American erasure in Colorado to the aristocratic mountain paradise.
“That’s what really drew me in, this opportunity of being a Native American woman, a Native American artist, coming into the community and being able to have a cultural exchange… We had a very robust residency lined up and planned. I was really excited to engage in the Vail community knowing that they aren’t known for being very diverse.”
Upon SeeWalker’s appointment as artist in residency, her enthusiasm to bring these important and newfound perspectives to the homogenously white town of Vail was quickly stamped out after the town contacted her with the claim that some members of the Jewish congregation of Vail were moved to discomfort by her piece “G is for Genocide,” thus cancelling her residency before even receiving details of her intentions and plans for her Vail based residency.
SeeWalker noted in an interview with the Colorado Sun that she was surprised that the Jewish community in Vail were unable to see past their discomfort and appreciate the significance and importance of drawing parallels between historical genocides and ongoing geopolitical events that have clear cut evidence of innocent children and families being destroyed and erased, just a few taps of one’s phone away. Art that seeks to draw parallels highlighting instances of mass destruction of innocent human life should not be suppressed. Art, such as SeeWalkers, that’s very existence is evidence of an indomitable human spirit and works to remind us of the generational impacts of genocide that are never quite phased out should be utilized in communities like Vail’s. The discomfort art brings to us is often the discomfort of hot, prodding truth poking at our hearts and minds.
Despite this ignorant slight to SeeWalker’s own artistic virtue and clear suppression of an indigenous perspective in a community that is demographically 94.58% white, SeeWalker’s familial history and individual perseverance have given her the power to brush off and overcome much worse.
SeeWalker emphasized that her “G is for Genocide” piece was a separate entity from anything she had planned for her Vail residency and noted that the piece was born out of an expression of solidarity between the Native American and Palestinian communities. SeeWalker could no longer bear witnessing the ghastly images of genocide circulating social media feeds and, like all true artists, expressed that fear and frustration into her work.
“I know this all stemmed off of something that happened to me personally, but the only reason why I brought this to the public was because I feel like it’s beyond me. It’s about silencing artwork, it’s about silencing an artist, it’s about censoring a Native American, and it’s just not right.”
Regarding SeeWalker’s intentions with her residency, had it come to fruition, she spoke on this saying: “The mural was going to be the centric focal point of the residency–most of where my time was going to be spent was creating a mural–which was going to be nothing related to Gaza or Palestine, it was going to be more about the community of Vail and nature and bringing in Native American geometric symbolism and floral work. It was going to be nothing related to this piece of art in question.”
SeeWalker never was given the opportunity to appeal or present her point of view to the town of Vail. She has since spoken at the CU Denver campus encampment and continued to show her solidarity with the Palestinian community who will feel the consequences of genocide for generations to come.
SeeWalker currently has an ongoing exhibition at the History Museum Colorado in Denver. Some of her pieces including “Not Today, Cowboy” and “Wades in the Water” are on display at the Straat Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. You can keep up with her artistic and social ventures on Instagram, @seewalker_art & www.seewalker.com/art
The Revolutionist 