The Art of Salish Peoples, showcasing Coastal and Interior Salish People’s art, is a group exhibition curated by the staff of The House of Welcome at The Evergreen State College. It is an all-Salish project, with lead artist Ed Archie NoiseCat and invited artists at Evergreen Gallery. Showing is a wealth of work with a broad range of styles and materials. The show is like reading pages in the diaries of rich cultures full of history and is an invitation not to be missed.
Artists include Angel Kalama, Valea Higheagle, Jall Higheagle, Jason Goblin, Dakota Marcelley, Veronica Ann Ramirez-Lau, Peg Deam, Vicki Harlan, Wy-ee-sa Teeias~Kippie Joe, Shelia Hillaire, Denny Hurtado, and Roger Fernadez. Notables are Denise Emerson’s Native Lady Liberty standing strong and impassive, reminding us of numerous treaties and inviting/demanding us to honor them, Jefferey Veregge’s whimsical print Restoration, Joshua Mason’s serene woven baskets and mats, William Passmore’s beautifully textured glass Gourds and Baskets, Joe wahalatsu? Seymour Jr.’s flawlessly executed The Boy Who Lived with the Sea Serpents, Timothy O’Connell’s atmospheric tx̣ə́nəŋ ʔaʔ cə qʷúʔ ʔiʔ čiʔsáy̕qəŋ̕ , Ryan! Fedderson’s arresting Coyote and the Monster Yet to Slay l, Misty Kalama Archer quAa-ayAup’s delicately woven Colors to Dye for Wall Hanging, Dr. Susan Pavel sa’ hLa mitSa’s majestic Our Healing, and Anna Mae Kalama-Archer’s You Can’t Eat Money.
Evergreen’s current Artist in Residence Ed NoiseCat is an interdisciplinary multimedia artist with an impressive resume under his belt. It seems there is nothing he can’t do or won’t consider taking on. He also serves as adjunct professor and is hoping to continue on a more permanent full-time basis. He heard about the residency program through colleagues and friends who came before him, Rick Bartow, Joe David, and Joe Feddersen. He says these were good connections for him and he is excited to be part of this succession of great artists. NoiseCat is full-blooded Salish (Secwepemc/Stitlimx), and grew up on Canim Lake reserve in British Columbia. He says he started with no art guidance as a child, so he’s pleased to be able to pass on his extensive knowledge to students.
NoiseCat graduated from Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC. He started by studying graphics and printmaking, working in lithography, screen-printing, etching etc, and making his own paper. He moved to New York to work for Tyler Graphics, producing prints for Stella, Lichtenstein and other renowned modern artists. He says these greats of Modern Art still influence him in his art practice. He moved on to lost wax casting, working in bronze, silver and gold, and woodcarving, then learned lead crystal glass casting and glass fusing. In 2010 he was Artist in Residence at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, working with hot sculpted glass and glass blowing, and precision waterjet cutting. He was 2020 Artist in Residency at The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, BC. Around 2005 he was commissioned to do a 1212 Corten steel art piece which prompted him to work on much larger pieces with laser cut steel. He says he always worked on large pieces, but they are getting bigger and bigger. His works are in public and private collections, including the National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. His portfolio of monumental works includes a portrait mask of Taoyateduta, or Chief Little Crow, in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Restoration by Jefferey Veregge
The Scream by Ed NoiseCat
Colors to Dye for Wall Hanging by Misty Kalama Archer quAa-ayAup
NoiseCat’s work in this show is all from the last decade; his pieces are charmingly woven narratives that pack a punch. His 10-foot carving BOLT1974, honoring George H. Boldt, the judge who acknowledged the treaty to support native fishing rights. Important Native civil rights heroes, Ramona Bennett, Hank Adams, and Billy Frank Jr. (the lead advocate for fishing rights), all inscribed each on their own carved yellow cedar paddle, an instrument of drive, direction and tribal affiliation. This large sculpture is pertinently and powerfully placed in the gallery space beside another of his works, The Vanishing Run, portraying a steel coffin-like coffee table full of bronze cast salmon on a bed of glass. (In Washington state 14 population groups of fish are listed as threatened or endangered because of threats to habitat, environmental changes and lack of genetic diversity.) His carving The Scream is an impressive totem-like sculpture that depicts the sound itself. Made from alder and walnut with abalone inlays, the black snake, the orca and the salmon are intertwined or entangled and ascend to a crescendo. His glass piece Thunderwhorl is particularly eye-catching. It is made from startlingly blue Kiln-cast lead crystal cobalt glass. Like a mesmerizing eyeball staring out, the internal relief composition contains many eyeballs, with viewers experiencing it observing them while they observe it. In the Wake of the Whale, a black and clear fused glass piece, has a similar mesmerizing effect with a yin-yang format. NoiseCat’s works in the show are limited editions, and one-of-a-kind pieces, and are available for purchase. Information can be accessed through a QR code at the gallery.
NoiseCat’s imagery involves lines in flow, pulling the eye around the composition of the piece in a hypnotic and arresting way. His lines are clean, deft, and deliberate, and traditionally high contrast, with a limited palette apart from the occasional inclusion of a well-placed, distinctive and eye-catching color or metallic contrast, with juxtaposed textures and materials. He says each time he works on a piece he works a little extra into the narrative, like finely tuning his life story. It has been a winding path for him through many terrains, leaving beauty, education, and wisdom in his wake.
NoiseCat has much to be proud of; not least are the accomplishments of his son, Julian Brave NoiseCat, who earned eight nominations and shared the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award with Emily Kassie for Sugarcane, a documentary about racial justice. He is also extremely proud of his daughter Zia NoiseCat, who graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota and is set to work in Alaska on important environmental issues.
WHAT:
The Art of Salish Peoples Exhibit with Featured Artist Ed Archie NoiseCat
WHERE:
The Evergreen Gallery, 2737 McCann Plaza Dr NW #2204, Olympia
WHEN:
Until Jan 10, 2025, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday closed (check with the gallery for changes)
HOW MUCH:
Free
LEARN MORE:
https://www.evergreen.edu/houseofwelcome/gallery
(360) 867-6718