Tulsa Artist Fellowship held its First Friday event on July 5, which currently houses the ππ°πΏπ·Μππ· (Markings): ππ°ππ°Μππ· π»Μπ· poetic forms exhibit featuring Osage artwork.
ππ°πΏπ·Μππ· is the word for βwriteβ in Osage. Forms of ππ°πΏπ·Μππ· or Waleze include photographs, designs, patterns, paintings, poems and books. The exhibit was organized by Osage writer and Osage News reporter Chelsea T. Hicks. The artwork features Osage orthography incorporated into artworks of mixed media showcasing Osage culture, removal to Oklahoma, photography and finger weaving.
Artists featured include Norman Akers, Dave Cote, Julianna Cote, Alex DeRoin, Sarah Elsberry, Yatika Starr Fields, Anita Fields, Dr. Jessica Moore Harjo, Brian Hicks, Chelsea T. Hicks, Mary and Cody Hammer, Aimee Inglis, Mia Jones, Emmrie Mashunkashey, Elizabeth Moore, Erica Pretty Eagle Cozad, T.V. Moore, John Parker, Wendy Ponca, Moira RedCorn, D.O., Talee Redcorn, Alex Ponca Stock, Welana A. Queton, and aaliyah wahwassuck.
The exhibit is available for viewing until Aug. 10 at the Tulsa Artist Fellowshipβs Flagship public project space, located at 112 North Boston Avenue in Tulsa. Open Thursday through Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Norman Akers has been painting and doing artwork all his life. He used mixed media to compile digital images into a piece of artwork he titled βLine of Sorrowβ with the representation of Osage County over time.
βThe piece deals with a lot of metaphors,β Akers said. βYou can see the image of the windmills, you can see an image of Jefferson. If you look further back you can see Columbus in there and you also see the Osage landscape. One of the things as a Native artist, it’s hard to depict the landscape without the history of that landscape. How colonialism changed the landscape for us.β
Dr. Moira RedCorn used oil paint on a large canvas to create her artwork she titled, βMoving to a New Country.β She incorporated Osage orthography and culture into her painting and included the Osage clan system underneath the oils. Some of the orthography includes an Osage prayer.
βI got the title from the concept of Osages constantly developing and constantly moving into a new way of being, not just land,β RedCorn said. βIn this situation of course, it is literal because this was initially painted for the sesquicentennial.β
She visited the Tallgrass Prairie on multiple occasions for inspiration for her piece.
βI was also biking or driving out to the Tallgrass Prairieβ she said. βAnd thinking about being in that space, and that we moved down here during that time.β
RedCorn built the framework and stretched the canvas herself. She drew the Sky People underneath the clouds of the painting and the Earth People on the foreground.
βThe very bottom layer, before I did anything else, I went through and drew our clan system on the canvas,β she said. βIn the way our villages were laid out, you had the π‘πΝπ€π Earth people and π²π£π»πͺ Sky people up here. The Earth people are divided into water and land.β
RedCorn incorporated the Big and Little dippers into the sky portion of her painting as those constellations are a part of the Osage clan system.
Mia Jones painted βπ·π.π°π (Pray)β with acrylics. The painting is a waterbird with bright colors and different windows depicting things Jones has seen throughout her life.
βItβs just where I grew up,β Jones said. βJust traveling around, it’s what Iβd see. Everything I paint is something Iβve seen, in real life with my own eyes.β
She incorporated traditions from the Native American Church and Osage culture into her artwork, as well as her family traditions.
Emmrie Mashunkashey and Chelsea T. Hicks submitted a photograph that Mashunkashey titled βπ―π€ππ―π€ππ΅π β harmony.β The photo was taken Easter Sunday in 2023.
βI decided to call it βHarmonyβ because thatβs what I feel like when I look at it,β Mashunkashey said. βI feel like that day was very harmonious with all of my family and them helping me get ready like we do in June.β
In the photo, Mashunkashey is wearing traditional Osage clothing, standing in the middle of the Tallgrass Prairie.
βI asked all my sisters to help me get dressed beforehand because I knew I wanted to take the picture in Osage clothes,β Mashunkashey said. βMy Osage name is Sacred Buffalo Woman, and I knew I wanted buffalo in the background of some of them.β
Mashunkashey included a poem written in Osage to pay homage to her ancestors.
βWhen I said the βI miss youβ part, Iβm relating to my past Osage family, especially women, because there are so many women in my family,β she said. βI chose to wear pink and green because those are traditional Osage colors. I decided to wear Osage clothes as an ode to all those before me. My fan is my momβs fan, Iβm wearing my shawl from my mom, and I made those necklaces myself and spent time on those too, to make sure everything correlates together. So that was related to everyone that came before me who dressed.β
Hicks created the exhibit because she wants people to see all the forms of Waleze.
βMy intention is really to support and co-create in and around ππ°ππ°Μππ· π»Μπ· co-production in a good way,β she said.
A Salon Reading will be held on Aug. 2, with John Parker hosting. Talee Redcorn will be reading his poem and all Osages are invited to share.
For questions about accessibility, to request accommodation, or to share feedback, please get in touch with info@tulsaartistfellowship.orgΒ or call (539) 302-4855.
