WALEZE (MARKINGS): POETIC FORMS

 

June 25, 2024 - August 10, 2024

𐓏𐒰𐒿𐒷́𐓒𐒷 (Markings): 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰́𐓓𐒷 𐒻́𐒷 poetic forms featured works by Osage artists meditating upon Waleze, or the 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰́𐓓𐒷 𐒻́𐒷 word for the written Osage languageβ€”as well as the word used to refer to photos, designs, patterns, books, and all markings. This multidisciplinary show of 𐓏𐒰𐒿𐒷́𐓒𐒷 (Markings) promotes co-creation in and around the Osage language, 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰́𐓓𐒷 𐒻́𐒷.

Participating artists include Norman Akers, Dave Cote, Julianna Cote, Alex DeRoin, Sarah Elsberry, Yatika Starr Fields, Anita Fields, Jessica Moore Harjo, Brian Hicks, Chelsea T. Hicks, Mary and Cody Hammer, Aimee Inglis, Mia Jones, Emmrie Mashunkashey, Elizabeth Moore, Erica Pretty Eagle, T.V. Moore, John Parker, Wendy Ponca, Moira RedCorn, D.O., Talee Redcorn, Alex Ponca Stock, Welana A. Queton, and aaliyah wahwassuck.

Organizer, Tulsa Artist Fellowship alum-in-residence, and Words of the People founder Chelsea T. Hicks shared, β€œIn desiring to compose in 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰́𐓓𐒷 𐒻́𐒷, I did not want to write in Western contemporary forms, but in forms which might emerge out of our oral traditions. I also felt the need to acknowledge forms of 𐓏𐒰𐒿𐒷́𐓒𐒷 as generative, guiding forces for composing in 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰́𐓓𐒷 𐒻́𐒷, as 𐓏𐒰𐒿𐒷́𐓒𐒷 is not only our word for writing but our word for all β€˜markings.’ I asked for help from 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰́𐓓𐒷 who contemplate on 𐓏𐒰𐒿𐒷́𐓒𐒷 in their creative works and received support in the form of this show, which presents works capable of guiding the creation of new poetic forms. I’m very humbled by the brilliance and rich talent of 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰́𐓓𐒷marking-makers of whom there are a great many, not limited to those in this exhibition." 

Two-spirit artist Alex DeRoin reflected, β€œMy participation in this 𐓏𐒰𐒿𐒷́𐓒𐒷 art exhibit is deeply personal. As a two-spirit individual, I find profound resonance in the Osage worldview, where π“π’°π’½π“‚Ν˜ Μπ“ˆπ’°, our creator, resides within everything and everyone. This concept is mirrored in 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰́𐓓𐒷 𐒻́𐒷 itself, … This exhibition feels like a bridge between ancestral knowledge and a future brimming with possibility. It echoes the call for an β€˜Osage renaissance’ articulated beautifully by elder Jozi Tallchief, a two-spirit woman who made history by running for Congress. Her bravery and vision inspire me to embrace the fluidity of identity and the interconnectedness of all things.” 

β€œThis work makes me feel like we have a future as Osages, instead of the belief in ourselves when I was young, back in the 1970s and 1980s. There really was nothing that reinforced a future in ourselves as natives. The word that comes to mind is β€˜fatalistic.’ [This effort] is like a budding plant, a flower, desperately trying to grasp that life back again, a budding of sorts. And wanting to portray the beauty of who we are as Osages. That expression of life, hope, and gentle confidence. A confidence that doesn't destroy and manipulate, like our people have experienced,” said participating artist Talee Redcorn.

This exhibition was made possible by the generous support of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship and the Mid-America Alliance Artistic Innovations Grant Program.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Chelsea T. Hicks (she/they) is a model, author, and text-based experimental visual artist. She was awarded the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award in 2023, and her writing has been published in Poetry, McSweeney’s, World Literature Today, Yellow Medicine Review, the LA Review of Books, Indian Country Today, the Believer, The Audacity, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. She is a past Writing By Writers Fellow, a 2016 Wah-Zha-Zhi Woman Artist featured by the Osage Nation Museum, a 2020 finalist for the Eliza So Fellowship for Native American women writers, a Native Arts & Cultures Foundation 2021 LIFT Awardee, and a 2022-2023 Tulsa Artist Fellow. Her first book, A Calm & Normal Heart, was longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for debut short story collections. She is a recipient of the Artistic Innovations grant from the Mid-America Arts Alliance. Her advocacy has included recruiting with the Virginia Indian Pre-College Outreach Initiative (VIP-COI), Northern and Southern California Osage diaspora groups, and heritage language creative writing and revitalization workshops. She authored poetry for the sound art collection Onomatopoeias For Wrangell-St. Elias was funded by the Double Hoo Grant at the University of Virginia, where she was awarded the Peter & Phyllis Pruden scholarship for excellence in the English major and the University Achievement Award (2008-2012). The Ford Foundation awarded her a 2021 honorable mention for promoting Indigenous-language creative writing. She organizes Indigenous language creative writing gatherings in Tulsa funded by the Mid-America Arts Alliance and directs the associated 501c3 organization Words of the People. She is 𐓀𐒻̄𐓐𐓂́𐒼𐒷 (bisexual).

ABOUT FLAGSHIP

Tulsa Artist Fellowship inaugurated its Flagship public project space located at 112 N Boston Ave E, Tulsa, OK 74103 in Tulsa’s historic downtown district. The 2,421 square-foot building was designed as an integrated and dynamic platform for arts-centered community exchange.

Flagship programming includes screenings, panel/roundtable discussions, lectures, artist talks and interviews, literary resources, workshops, symposiums, as well as performances and public artworks, sound installations, and more.

 
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