Oxy Arts’ ‘The Iridescence of Knowing’ showcases Indigenous art forms

Oxy Arts, Occidental’s community art studio and gallery, opened its latest exhibition “The Iridescence of Knowing” Sept. 14. Artwork ranging from photographs to hand-drawn work to an audio-visual experience by several Indigenous artists from the LA area and beyond are featured in the gallery. The exhibition is curated by Mercedes Dorame and Occidental instructor Joel Garcia.

“‘The Iridescence of Knowing’ is a lot about taking away the hard lines between tribes and the delineations between fine art and other forms of art,” Dorame said.

According to Garcia, Dorame and her father, Robert Dorame, also have a piece in the exhibition composed of musical instruments that her father made and uses, along with other items like white abalone shells. Garcia said the piece is meant to highlight Robert Dorame’s instruments, which was important to her while making the arrangement.

Another family collaboration in the exhibit is Sky Hopinka’s short film, “Jáaji Approx.” Garcia said Hopinka retraced the route his father took on a powwow circuit as part of a traveling drum group, and that this trip was a way for him to reconnect with his father’s language, Ho-Chunk.

A third work exhibited is a handmade basket named “Good Vibes Only” by artist Jessa Calderon. According to Garcia, this specific style of basket has not been made for over 100 years, so it not only signifies the resurgence of a tradition but also represents one of the goals of the exhibition.

This semester, Garcia is teaching “Topics in Art History. Indigenous Art and the Lineage of Color in California,” a class that focuses on the connection between the land and Indigenous art, according to the course description. Garcia said the exhibition is showcasing works of Indigenous artists from Southern California, many of whom are Tongva.

“It’s an introduction to the Tongva community in a way that feels more along the lines of who they are,” Garcia said. “Almost every one of them that’s out there [is] doing some sort of cultural work, political work, [but] they’re artists. And they haven’t really been able to be artists because they’re attending to things like that.”

Tongva artist River Garza portrays the intersection between his Tongva and Mexican/Chicano identity in his art. According to Garza, his piece in the exhibition draws from Tongva maritime culture and was inspired by the Sky Coyote in Tongva creation stories.

“A lot of the time when I depict the coyote, it’s carrying a paddle,” Garza said. “[It] harkens back to my connections to Ti’at Society, our maritime customs, so that’s really where it was inspired from.”

Garza said he was extremely impressed by the collection of artwork and artists that the curators put together and felt grateful to be included in the lineup. With the many cultures, aesthetics and mediums presented in the exhibition, Garza said that he hopes audiences will see how all those parts interact with each other to form the exhibition.

“Even to have James Luna’s work in this — [it’s] amazing to see how that has inspired a whole generation of artists like myself,” Garza said. “I hope people will see the continuum of things.”

Luna was an internationally recognized Indigenous artist whose piece in the exhibition is a photograph series. Garcia said the piece is on loan exclusively for the Oxy Arts’ exhibition. The piece features Luna posing as various stereotypes of an Indigenous person in a series of four photographs. Garcia said that through this piece, Luna playfully tears down the stereotypes of Indigenous identity with humor as a way of reclaiming that identity.

“Given a lot of the conversations surrounding the visibility of First Peoples across the country, not just here in California but all over the place, art has been a big piece in finding ways to really talk about these things without being extremely heavy,” Garcia said.

Contact Siena Cawrse at cawrse@oxy.edu.