“In your own words: Native Impressions” tells the story of individual Native people living on tribal lands through prints. Photo courtesy of ndmoa.com

Two art shows opened up at the North Dakota Museum of Art this past Sunday. On the east side hangs “In Your Own Words: Native Impressions,” which is comprised of 26 prints done by three artists, Daniel Heyman, Lucy Ganje and Kim Fink. The show on the opposing west side is called “Stalking the Snow Leopard,” created by Justin Sorensen, who hired me as a performer.

Heyman has become a recognizable figure in the fine arts building. When he is not here giving artist lectures or working on the project, he enjoys spending time in Philadelphia, teaching at Princeton and Rhode Island School of Design.

He worked on this project with two UND professors, Ganje, the graphic design professor on campus and Fink, a master printmaker. They brought Heyman to the university to form a team on this important project.

The artwork contains portraits and text that portray a chronicle of stories from individual natives living within the tribal nations of North Dakota. The images use bold, attractive colors that bring the viewer in and hold their gaze. Hand-carved text on the portraits tell personal accounts of cultures being overrun.

These beautiful, intriguing impressions of people are combined with stories of hardship, sadness and determination.  The imperfect layering of woodcut prints creates a vibrating image of colors and hard outlines. One has to follow the flowing text through the composition as if it was once linear, but had been disturbed by being shaken or stepped on.

Sorensen is a conceptual artist who seems interested in growing the understanding of the artist as part of the world, not one who oversees it.

“I started to realize that art wasn’t just located in the studio,” Sorenson said.

An artist doesn’t stop being an artist when they leave the studio, and they cannot control when creativity will strike. These moments in between making art has become a focus of Sorensen’s. He uses an overlap of performance, sculpture, photography and drawing in his work. Through a professor I was asked to perform one of his pieces.

Sorensen’s conceptual performance had me leaning against the wall holding up a blue photograph with nothing but my forehead for an hour. It was an odd task that put a cramp in my neck. As I stood like a plank, I had plenty of time to think about the performance. The endurance required to stay there holding an image to the wall gave me insight on the struggle to show art. Questions arouse, such as, “Maybe my own struggle to present my artwork is as silly as holding it to the wall with my face.”

One could easily use their hands or tacks to keep the image there. Possibly the struggle of the artist to be known is self destructive. The knot in my neck got tighter, and  coincidently I felt a greater urge to allow my finished artwork to be free of my care.

Maybe one should disconnect themselves from their work and let it have a life of its own. Like a parent, they should let their kids go to college to determine their own destiny.

The two shows will be up until July 10. The museum is located at 261 Centennial Drive, and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Bill Rerick is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]