In Our Own Words: Native Impressions

A two-part print of an abstract American Indian bust surrounded by text on the left, and lots of chunks of text in different sizes and colors on the right, with the word "WARRIOR" prominently in red.
June 30–October 7, 2018
Second floor

In Our Own Words features a portfolio of 26 vibrantly colored printed portraits by living artists Daniel Heyman (b. 1963) and Lucy Ganje (b. 1949). The two collaborated in portraying present-day members of North Dakota Indian nations, including those around Standing Rock, recently in the news.

Heyman traveled to North Dakota in the summer of 2015 to begin work with Ganje on a project that chronicles the stories of individuals who live within the state's various nations. The artists combined portraits and text from a range of people in the communities they visited including a former marine, two university presidents, and a grieving mother, among others. The exhibition features each sitter’s personal oral history in his or her own words, as told to the artist while sitting for a portrait, giving voice to those historically denied a voice. Recurring motifs include climate, energy, and the legacy of boarding schools to which elder relatives were sent as forced assimilation.

Daniel Heyman, Lucy Ganje

In Our Own Words: Native Impressions, 2015-2016

Color reduction woodcut and letterpress on handmade mulberry and North Dakota native milkweed paper

2017.2.1

Daniel Heyman, Lucy Ganje

I Couldn't Tell if He was Crying, 2015-2016

Color reduction woodcut and letterpress on handmade mulberry and North Dakota native milkweed paper

2017.2.3

A two-part print of an abstract American Indian bust surrounded by text on the left, and lots of chunks of text in different sizes and colors on the right, with the word "WARRIOR" prominently in red.

Daniel Heyman, Lucy Ganje

If Your Telephone Rings, 2015-2016

Color reduction woodcut and letterpress on handmade mulberry and North Dakota native milkweed paper

2017.2.14

Daniel Heyman, Lucy Ganje

That Language, 2015-2016

Color reduction woodcut and letterpress on handmade mulberry and North Dakota native milkweed paper

2017.2.10

A two-part print of an abstract American Indian bust surrounded by text on the left, and lots of chunks of text in different sizes and colors on the right.

Daniel Heyman, Lucy Ganje

They Would Speak in Dakota, 2015-2016

Color reduction woodcut and letterpress on handmade mulberry and North Dakota native milkweed paper

2017.2.5

The entire portfolio on handmade paper made from the pulp of trees from North Dakota is now part of the Amon Carter’s permanent collection. This is the first time we will exhibit the recent acquisition. The works are living testimony that Native culture is far from vanished, but rich, varied, and constantly shifting, providing a counterpoint to the museum’s 19th-century holdings.

Installation Photos

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In Our Own Words: Native Impressions is supported in part by a grant from the Arts Council of Fort Worth.