Dreaming in English (shadow dance)

2021

Nicholas Galanin

(Tlingít/Unangax̂, b. 1979)

Culture

America

Medium

Color monotype with gold leaf on paper

Measurements

Image and Sheet: 76 x 57.2 cm (29 15/16 x 22 1/2 in.); Mount: 82.6 x 63.8 cm (32 1/2 x 25 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Stephen Dull 2024.25

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

101B Prints & Drawings

Did You Know?

The artist’s use of gold leaf in this work is meant to symbolize what he sees as the corrupting influences of colonizers on indigenous lands and traditions.

Description

Describing his monotypes as “fleeting instances of joy,” artist Nicholas Galanin employs the gestural immediacy of the medium to evokes the ancestral memories and traditions of his Tlingít and Unangax̂ community. This monotype was made for a series meant to address the loss of indigenous languages and traditions due to forced assimilation at government-run boarding schools. Exploring his own internalized memories, here he evokes the coordinated movement of a dance sequence.