Research Task: Indigenous Artists
- Abbie Vidler
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
For this research task, I will be researching indigenous artists from around the world. Starting off with...
Kenojuak Ashevak
Ashevak grew up making art after falling ill and entering in a program that allowed patients to create art and crafts as an outlet. Ashevak sold the art she created and became further in love with art, especially after marring her husband who was an art promoter.
Kenojuak Ashevak became the first Inuit to make it onto the Canada Post; her art would showcase incredible storytelling with fluidity and vibrancy through prints, drawing and sculpture 1; she represented the Inuit community and culture, which can be seen throughout her art work that shows "traditional themes and imagery".
The focus of Ashevak's work is to spread happiness; showing visualisations of birds, animals, women and children in her work often. Her style consists of colourful shapes that show geometric symmetry and simplistic line art-- with negative space to make the designs stand out. 2
Looking at Ashevak's work, I am really in awe of how she can create such fluid shapes and gorgeous colours for print-making; each print has something meaningful to show and I really love her work.
T.C Cannon
Immediately, as I research, I was in love with Cannon's work. T. C Cannon was a Native American that fell in love with art as a teenager and was interested in Pop art-- which could explain the use of colour. His work beautifully blended modern art and his heritage together, using patterns, shapes and subjects that reflect his heritage with extra vibrancy, flat colour for the stylistic pop art. 3
Cannon was inspired by famous artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Matisse, the result is a "thickly lined", flat and gorgeously coloured art that evokes a sense of abstract realism. Partially, the appearance of dots that come up in his artworks, which represents "an allusion to the hallucination experienced during a sun dance". For what came after his initial artworks, his artwork developed more and conveyed "medicine men, dancers, and ceremonies—long-suppressed cultural practices that were only finally legalized in 1978." 4
His work was well-acclaimed, however, he died very young; his work showcases the livelihood, the traditions of Native Americans and his own personality.
Blak Douglas
Douglas, an Australian artist mixes his mediums and techniques together to create art pieces that expresses his thoughts, feelings and reflections of society though his paintings. Exploring topics of racism, "issues relating to Aboriginal identity", equality, colonization, and to help bring awareness to the people in "indigenous communities in Australia". 5
His work is quite flat and has exaggerated colours with really interesting cracking textures on his work, to add to that and make the art pop, he creates a thick black outline to give his art that graphic design look.
Blak Douglas explores deep, meaningful topics that resonate with the world, and it all started when he was an "exhibition officer for the indigenous exhibition". It had led him to begin painting again where he could combine his skill in graphic design and hobby in painting. 6
Sliman Mansour
Born in Palestine, Sliman Mansour grew up with lots of support from his family who knew he had a lot of talent for art; and what pushed him further was his support from a German teacher who was able to supply him with things he needed to learn about art and to paint. With both theory and technical skills in hand, his work would become the voice for Palestine; his work has a strong message for the stories, beliefs and identities that come out of Palestine, to bring awareness to the on-going torment that goes on in Palestine. 7
His style is described as "elements of realism, abstract expressionisms, and surrealism", melding together to create a powerful message of the "movements cultural opposition to oppressions". It's reflected in his work through symbolisms, for example the olive trees being a sign for resistance and struggle.
Mansour plays around with colours, subjects and mediums-- experimenting with mud to create imagery out of the cracks and build-up of the mud; for colours, the colours red, black and green were banned since it represented the flag of Palestine. It was because of this that Watermelon became a symbol of resistance and is used today to raise awareness of what is happening to Palestine today. 8
Annie Pootoogook
Another Inuit artist, however, focusing on a different topic, an incredible artist Pootoogook create from life, inspired by life. Creating drawings that represented the mundane life that the majority of us live. 9
Rather than sculptures or paintings, Annie worked using felt-tip pens, graphite, and pencil crayons. She had great technicality when it came to drawing, which in turn made her illustrations feel very raw. She'd play with different perspectives depending on the scope of her story and the developing styles of her work. With time, colour also appeared more as her confidence grew-- which also gave some of her illustrations some pleasing textures. 10
As her work evolved so did the story, as you lived out your life so did she, seeing peeks of it as she unveiled her art. In time, her work would slightly get darker in narrative and helped highlight issues that other people were also experiencing. 11
Her work would highlight the rawness and the togetherness of the Inuit community and she will be remembered...
José Sabogal
The very artist that played an important role in the "founding (of) the artistic movement known as Indigenism". 12
Sabogal was heavily invested in his travel through Peru and was inspired by it so much that his paintings would reflect the life and culture of the Andes; his style was influenced by both indigenous artists and European art techniques, the result was a developing medium that unfolded across different formats 13 such as painting, print, murals. 14
He was an advocate and a muralist, creating for "government buildings, schools and churches" while showing the history, mythology and the charity of the indigenous people of Peru. He promoted and preserved the legacy of Peruvian people, and is still talked about to this day. 15
Looking at his work, there is lots of outstanding colours than push the boundaries of traditional painting for it's time, creating rich colours for all skin tones. The delicate brushstrokes that cover the canvas, really adds stimulating textures that make up the sky, the clothes etc.
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
This artist's hybrid way of working allows for an unique viewing experience when it comes to his artwork. Blending traditional Chinese painting with calligraphy and the the expressive manga style of narrative, all while conveying a "non-linear" reading experience; speaking on topics that effect the world today.
Typically Yahgulanaas crates in a mural format, exploring expressive and emotive pieces of work; full to the brim, each section of the murals have its significance and meaning. 16 Typically, he works using watercolour and ink using extremely large pieces of paper, which encapsulates the reader to fully immerse themselves around the mural and the stories. 17
Not only through murals, he'll also create graphic novels, he was inspired by European, and see this mediums as "accessible" which allows people's views to be challenged or reassured by telling the stories of the lives of indigenous people and war. 18
Reflection
This research task was really interesting to do, I was fascinated with all the artists that were featured on this task.
Looking at how each artist empower others through their art is truly admirable, and the variety of techniques and artistic style opens my eyes to how to show narrative and identities through the artistic mediums.
I would say that I don't think I did a great job at researching these artists, I probably should've written much more and not waffled on. I wasn't able to find the information I wanted and ended up using several resources to make up a conclusion on what the artist does, how they do it and what they had to do to get there.
1 K Ahmed, Foyer 'How Kenojuak Ashevak's prints made history', Dec 3, 2024. https://readfoyer.com/article/how-kenojuak-ashevaks-prints-made-history Accessed May 21, 2025.
2 D Thimmesh, FF2 'Kenojuak Ashevak: The Inuit Art of a Modern Printmaker', 2023. https://www.ff2media.com/blog/2023/11/20/the-inuit-art-of-modern-printmaker-kenojuak-ashevak/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
3P Schjeldahl, The New Yorker 'T.C. CANNON'S BLAZING PROMISE', Apr 8, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/15/t-c-cannons-blazing-promise-peter-schjeldahl Accessed May 21, 2025.
4 M Vali, ARTFOURUM ' T. C. CANON', U/A. https://www.artforum.com/events/t-c-cannon-245858/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
5 U/A, JEFA Gallery, U/A. https://jefagallery.com/art_creator/blak-douglas/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
6 R Werkhoven, issuu 'BLAK DOUGLAS - INTERVIEW', March 2023 (possibly). https://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/arts_zine_march_2023/s/19914998#:~:text=He%20has%20an%20individual%20stylized,technique%20represents%20antiquity%20of%20culture. Accessed May 21, 2025.
7 A Kawar, Arab World Art 'Interview with Sliman Mansour', Feb 20, 2021. https://arabworldart.wordpress.com/2021/02/21/interview-with-sliman-mansour/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
8 Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera 'We must 'rehumanise ourselves': Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour'. Feb 25, 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/2/25/our-fight-is-to-rehumanise-ourselves-a-palestinian-painter-speaks-out Accessed May 21, 2025.
9 Cape Dorset & Inuit Artists, Inuit Artists 'Annie Pootoogook', U/A. https://inuitartists.com/collection/annie-pootoogook/# Accessed May 21, 2025.
10 N. G. Campbell, ACI 'Annie Pootoogook- STYLE & TECHNIQUE', U/A. https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/annie-pootoogook/style-and-technique/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
11 J Antunes, NUNATSIAQ NEWS ''Her rise was meteroric': Pootoogook drawing anmed one of the 21st century's best works', May 19, 2025. https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/her-rise-was-meteoric-pootoogook-drawing-named-one-of-21st-centurys-best-works/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
12 U/A, MoMA ' Jose Sabogal- Young Girl from Ayacucho (1937)', U/A. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80353 Accessed May 21 2025.
13 OV Digital Desk, Observer Voice 'Brushstrokes of Peruvian Heritage: The Art and Influences of Jose Sabogal' Mar 17, 2024. https://observervoice.com/19-march-remembering-jose-sabogal-on-birthday-17149/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
14 U/A, Art Museum of the Americas, U/A. https://www.oas.org/artsoftheamericas/jose-sabogal#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20painting%2C%20Sabogal,Amauta%20(1926%2D1930). Accessed May 21, 2025.
15 OV Digital Desk, Observer Voice 'Brushstrokes of Peruvian Heritage: The Art and Influences of Jose Sabogal' Mar 17, 2024. https://observervoice.com/19-march-remembering-jose-sabogal-on-birthday-17149/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
16 C Green, Art in America 'Fluid Frames: The Hybrid Art of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas', Nov 2, 2017. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/fluid-frames-the-hybrid-art-of-michael-nicoll-yahgulanaas-60076/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
17 C. Werner-Jatzke, SAM Stories 'Art is Not a Noun, It's a Verb: MIchael Nicoll Yahgulanaas', Mar 19, 2020. https://samblog.seattleartmuseum.org/2020/03/michael-nicoll-yahgulanaas/ Accessed May 21, 2025.
18 CBC News, CBC ' What drives visual artist Michael Nicoll Yahulanaas to tell stories through comics?', May 21, 2023. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/visual-artist-michael-nicoll-yahgulanaas-comics-1.6848774 Accessed May 21, 2025.
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