Dyani White Hawk

Dyani White Hawk is a multidisciplinary artist who combines the visual lexicon and materials characteristic of both Lakota abstraction and traditional easel painting abstraction, drawing upon her personal life narratives. In navigating her dual heritage of Lakota and European-American origins, White Hawk explores the intersections, parallels, and occasional disparities between the values of these two cultures. She draws deeply from the legacy of Lakota women who have historically delved into abstract artistry, spanning mediums such as paint, beadwork, and porcupine quillwork. She challenges prevailing hierarchies and underscores the need for genuine recognition of Indigenous and female contributions. Collaboratively created, her canvases fuse elements of her heritage, reflecting on the amalgamation of varied artistic traditions and cultures that have jointly shaped the course of abstraction in the Americas. White Hawk's multimedia pieces utilize meticulous techniques like loomed lane and flat stitch beadwork, masterfully incorporated onto canvases adorned with acrylics and oils. The colors she employs resonate with nature, drawing references to elements such as porcupine quills, glass beads, metals, and minerals. ...

Various Small Fires (Los Angeles /Dallas /Seoul) began as a series of conversations with artists and curators in Esther Kim Varet’s Venice Beach kitchen while working on her doctoral dissertation. VSF debuted in Hollywood as an official gallery in 2015 with a roster of artists and its current Johnston MarkLee Architects-designed building. The Hollywood gallery contains three exhibition spaces, a unique sound corridor, and an outdoor gallery. VSF’s exhibition program explores several curatorial lines: climate, equality, and an international conversation. The gallery is known for offering artists debut shows, creating intergenerational conversations among the artists on its roster, and solidifying artists’ legacies within art history. In 2019, VSF opened a second location in the Hannam neighbourhood of Seoul, South Korea, followed recently this Spring by VSFs third outpost in Dallas, Texas. While Varet has very personal connections to both locations, they are also superlative art communities. These expansions emphasise the gallery’s commitment to innovation and global dialogue in the twenty-first century. In 2021, VSF became a member of the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA). ...