Ka'ila wins Honoring the Northwest Award
"Sacred Survivance." Oil painting on canvas, 48" x 24," 2015.
Last night was the opening and awards ceremony for the 11th annual "In the Spirit: Contemporary Native Arts" exhibit at the Washington History Museum in Tacoma, WA. Ka'ila was awarded the "Honoring the Northwest" Award for her painting "Sacred Survivance," an oil painting created in 2015.
She says "This piece began through exploring abstract mark-making techniques used in printmaking processes, such as: dragging color with squeegees, applying and removing palette knife paint, and using tape to stencil hard-edge designs to create a dichotomy of organic and graphic qualities. The piece developed into an abstract landscape inspired by the Cascade Mountain Range that surrounded me while working at the Caldera Artist Residency for a month in January 2015. At this time I was empowered by the many Indigenous groups that were dancing, singing, walking and witnessing for the protection of their sacred mountains. From the Hawaiians resisting development on their sacred Mauna Loa, the Winnemem Wintu protecting sacred sites on Mt. Shasta to the Diné Navajo Walkers witnessing destruction due to fracking from the San Francisco Peaks to Mt. Taylor. This piece honors Indigenous connection to ancestral homelands. "
This is her third time winning the Honoring the Northwest award at In The Spirit, as well as taking "Best in Show" in 2014 for her painting "M is for Mak'Lak, W is for White: Authentic NDN Design," which is currently on view at the "NW Art Now" exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum on view through the summer until September 4, 2016.
In the Spirit Exhibition Dates: May 28- August 14th, 2016
In the Spirit Festival: August 13th, 2016 (Free Museum Day)
Congratulations to this year's selected IN THE SPIRIT artists!
Philip H. Red Eagle Kathey Ervin Chholing P. Taha Ruth Whitener Ka'ila Farrell-Smith Justin McCarthy Earl Davis Jennifer Angaiak Wood Kenny Waltman Terresa White Leah Thomason Bromberg Lillian Pitt Denny Sparr Hurtado Tony Boyd Crystal Worl Jeffrey Veregge Linley B. Logan Bernice Akamine Charles W Bloomfield Ramon Murillo Misty Kalama-Archer