Opening Reception, HALEY GREENFEATHER ENGLISH: A HEAVY BIRDEN

Greenfeather English is an artist of Red Lake and Turtle Mountain Ojibwe heritage known for her playful portraits and bold, lively color palette. She was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and earned her Bachelor’s of Fine Art at the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2018, where she honed her skills in painting and printmaking and developed an artistic practice inspired by keen observation, personal stories, and memory, challenging conventional understandings of reality influenced by western cultural perspectives.

In the artist’s own words, A Heavy Birden is a show about long drives, whimsy, nostalgia, love, shadows, clowns, grief, and birds. This unexpected assortment of concepts is characteristic of Greenfeather English’s practice—she is known for crafting startling juxtapositions that shift perceptions of the worlds she renders, and of the tangible realities of day-to-day life. And while each element might seem discrete, each plays an integral role in conjuring Greenfeather English’s world—one where whimsy and humor serve as teachers.

When she’s not making art, Greenfeather English can be found teaching children, who, she says, have an organic ability to both make and appreciate art, especially when it comes with a dose of humor. She hopes that her audiences will approach her work in the same way, with a sense of levity and childlike wonder.