Artist Statement

I am a Klamath/Modoc woman named after a Klamath mythological character, Kaila (pronounced Ka-EE-la), who represents creation, the earth, and the land. I identify as bi-cultural, growing up in Oregon with cultural and spiritual ties to the inter-tribal native community. I am an artist who works with a variety of media primarily painting, printmaking, drawing, and collage. I have lived and traveled extensively through Europe, the U.S., and much of Central and South America. My artwork bridges the influence and experience of places I’ve explored to my ancestral ties as an indigenous woman, navigating a contemporary Western World. I am apart of an interpretive generation and I paint the vibrancy, beauty, and psychological depth I experience from two worlds I travel within.

My goal as an artist is to develop a dialogue with the viewer about the continual Native American Holocaust and how the subsequent loss of cultural identity has directly affected my experience as a contemporary indigenous woman. My artistic practice tackles these cultural and societal issues by re-interpreting history, allowing myself to transcend historical trauma so to continue my cultural, and spiritual healing. I am doing this through utilizing language-based imagery such as re-presenting family and tribal documents as well as re-appropriating the romanticized Native American portrayal. Through reclaiming the images and words that have been used to conquer and stereotype my people, I am participating in the act of de-colonization.

My artistic expression facilitates my personal journey of de-colonization, an essential process for true activism in the 21st century. I am reclaiming my native identity by exploring the idea of recovery. Recovery of memory, recovery of language, recovery from post-colonial trauma to emerge more connected, aware and more self-expressed. My focus, rather than about sorrow and pain, will honor my family’s story as a way to transcend and bridge ancestral memory to the people. My goal is to explore a beautiful, contemporary, indigenous perspective grounded in subconscious memory, informed by history, re-imagined for today, a celebration of the spirit of life.

Thank You, Potlatch Fund!

I would like to thank the Potlach Fund for awarding me with a 2009 Native Arts Grant. This Grant has been given to help me attend the New York Art Expo in March, 2010 and the Santa Fe Indian Art Market next August. The money will help pay for my booth at the New York show and help launch my career as a young Northwest Native American woman artist. For more information about this grant please contact the Potlatch Fund.
801 Second Ave., Suite 304
Seattle, Washington 98104
Phone: 206-624-6076
www.potlachfund.org