Nicholas Galanin1. Get Comfortable2. Things Are Looking Native, Native’s Looking Whiter3. Iner

Nicholas Galanin

1. Get Comfortable

2. Things Are Looking Native, Native’s Looking Whiter

3. Inert

4-6. Imaginary Indian

7. White Carver

8. Video stills from ’Beat Nation’

9-10. I think it goes like this?

Artist Statement:

I work with concepts; the medium follows. In the business of this “Indian Art World,” I have become impatient with the institutional prescription and its monolithic attempt to define culture as it unfolds. Native American Art cannot be commonly defined as our work moves freely through time. The viewer, collector, or curators’ definition will often convey more about themselves than that of the “Native Artist.” In the past I have struggled with this title, though I now embrace my position as a contemporary indigenous artist with belief that some forms of resistance often carry equal amounts of persistence. My current collection of work presents visual experiences in hope of inspiring creative dialogue with the viewer. I often work with an intention to contribute towards contemporary cultural development. Through education and creative risk-taking, I hope to progress cultural awareness both in and out of this Indigenous world. Let us leave fucked up stereotypes. While moving forward, we liberate the Indian artist.

*video from Beat Nation embedded below: