We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live
Julie Buffalohead, Ambreen Butt, Angela Fraleigh, Dinorá Justice, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Orkideh Torabi & Marie Watt
The gallery is pleased to present We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live – a seven artist group exhibition inspired by Joan Didion's book of the same name.
In her collection of essays Didion explores the power of narrative and its role in shaping our understanding of reality; she examines how stories, both personal and cultural, help us make sense of our lives and cope with chaos. Reflecting on subjects such as personal identity, the nature of reality, and the interplay between memory and storytelling, Didion searches for insight into how we construct meaning and navigate the complexities of existence.
With a cast of anthropomorphized characters, Julie Buffalohead merges elements of Native American tradition with contemporary issues to create painterly worlds that delve into the complexities of cultural identity, folklore, and self-discovery. In her dynamic painting Grandmother Spider, the traditionally wise, nurturing, and protective figure is splayed out in spider shape below an orbit of animals symbolizing her central role as a creator who weaves together earth and sky, animal and human. By conflating the mythical with the ordinary and the imaginary with the real, Buffalohead creates space for the viewer to consider issues of racial injustice, indigenous rights, and abuse of power.
Ambreen Butt explores the complexities of contemporary global politics, female identity, and living as a Muslim in the United States. Evocative of an Islamic rug or a tiled mosque wall, the 20-feet-wide relief sculpture entitled I am all what is left of me consists of hundreds of small resin casts of locks, keys and coat hooks in blues, reds, greens and yellows. Butt's collaged works on paper espouse the radiant aesthetics of sacred geometries and Islamic ornamentation but with the repetitive urgency of cutting, ripping, and staining. Often using text-based source materials that include the names of children who lost their lives to war, transcripts from terrorism trials, and quotations from news media, Butt's work is built upon some of the most challenging moral questions of the 21st century. Rather than offer answers, her artworks exist as laborious meditations on the human condition.
Angela Fraleigh’s monumental paintings retrieve women from the margins of history, offering alternative, empowering visual narratives. Borrowing imagery from the Allentown Art Museum’s textile collection, the two works in this exhibition present women as makers with the potential to craft meaning and magic as well as cloth. Her compositions layer global textile designs traditionally used to invite blessings, protection, or abundance – positioning these patterns not only as a complex subversive language, but also as talismanic. Building on the layers of meaning embedded in her work, and with incantation-like intent, Fraleigh incorporates unconventional materials like moonwater, ground crystals, and paint made from gemstones that hold supernatural significance in various traditions.
Also revisiting Western art history, Dinorá Justice’s series of works “after” renowned nineteenth century European male artists examines the placement of women in traditional landscapes across the canon. For example, Portrait 79, after Manet’s 'Olympia' draws upon the artist’s long-standing interest in ecofeminism, which critically considers the ways in which femininity and the natural world have often been linguistically and culturally conjoined. She uses verdant greenery, colorful Brazilian fabric designs, and hand-marbled canvases to remix these quintessential art historical forms. Ultimately, Justice’s work questions the power relationships between artists, their subjects, and the wider world as stand-ins for our own relationships with gender and nature.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith frequently contrasts symbols from Native American culture with elements of advertising, American Pop and neo-expressionism. In this series of monoprints, she fuses two traditional motifs (rabbits and androgynous figures) with bold colors, geometric shapes and graphite scribbles. Creating a dynamic dialogue between past and present, each work is titled in a different indigenous language: Enn Parsonn (Human in Michif), Waabooz (Rabbit in Ojibwe), Waabooz (Rabbit in Ojibwe), Gah (Rabbit in Navajo). Through printmaking, drawing and painting, Smith weaves powerful narratives that challenge stereotypes and emphasize storytelling's role in cultural preservation and evolution.
Orkideh Torabi’s latest body of work shifts focus from gender-segregated spaces (which has become a signature theme in her work) towards the privileges and advantages held by men in power. Sunny Side Sorrow humorously juxtaposes the authoritative appearance of a regal figure with an unexpected display of vulnerability. The melancholic character, dressed in a military-style uniform, is seen wiping away tears while having a simple meal alone. Inspired by the Tashir motifs of Persian miniature painting, the decorative, patterned background serves as an ornate frame that further showcases the central figure and ponders the hidden emotional struggles of those typically seen as stoic and unyielding.
Blankets play a central role in Marie Watt’s practice, equally as sculptural material and conceptual foundation. In Indigenous and other communities, blankets are given away to commemorate important life events – they receive us into this world and accompany us when we depart. In this latest work Skywalker / Skyscraper (Flowers In A Field) from her ongoing series Blanket Stories, a column of forest green Army blankets is poetically interrupted by a passage of patterned, floral quilts. As a classic piece of Americana, inherited through service, sold at thrift shops and Army surplus stores, and finding their way into family homes all across the country, here the blankets are sublimely elevated as they hug the steel I-beam, which rises from the cedar base. For Watt, cedar and steel carry the legacy of past generations forward into the present and future, similar to how blankets are sites of ongoing stories and symbols of our connectedness.
This exhibition is organized by Sean Horton, Senior Director with special thanks to Joseph R. Wolin for curatorial assistance.
