PORT ANGELES — Contemporary Cherokee artist Karen Sixkiller will speak on “Rediscovering Cherokee Grandma Spider” at Studium Generale on Thursday.
Sixkiller will speak in the Little Theater on the Peninsula College campus, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd. in Port Angeles, at 12:35 p.m. Her lecture can also be viewed on Zoom at https://pencol-edu.zoom.us/j/89779530051. The meeting ID is 897 7953 0051.
Her exhibit, “Cherokee Grandma Spider,” is on display in the House of Learning, Peninsula College Longhouse, through March.
Her artwork celebrates spiders and reflects traditional and contemporary Cherokee art and stories.
“I hope for an emotional connection,” she said. “Most of my work has a comedic element, something odd that hopefully causes viewers to stop and wonder, ‘What is this about?’”
Sixkiller said she enjoys working in clay, sculpting and constructing with it, using seed beads in various ways to create sculptural messaging.
She also works with welded steel for larger outdoor sculptures such as “Ember” on display at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center through June.
“As an Urban Indian, I have walked in two worlds my entire life, and I can sometimes see things through both Native and Euro-centric perspectives,” she said.
“A lot of my work plays on that dichotomy, taking an idea, item or image that the dominant North American culture uses and understands one way and re-framing it to accentuate a Native perspective on it.”
House of Learning, Peninsula College Longhouse winter quarter gallery hours are from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and by appointment.
Sixkiller will also host a print workshop through the college’s community education program in March.
