Sara Siestreem | The Armory Show, 2024
The Armory Show | Booth #117
September 5-8, 2024
Elizabeth Leach Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in The Armory Show with a joint presentation with Cristin Tierney Gallery showcasing works by multidisciplinary artist Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos). This collaboration at the art fair coincides with the opening of a solo exhibition of Siestreem's works at Cristin Tierney Gallery who will host an opening reception on Friday, September 6 from 6-8 pm ET.
Sara Siestreem, an Oregon-based artist and member of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, engages the ceremonial traditions of her ancestors and blends them with contemporary artistic practices. Her work spans painting, photography, printmaking, weaving, and large-scale installations, standing at the intersection of social and ecological justice, education, and Indigenous feminism.
Rooted deeply in her Oregon homeland and tribal community, Siestreem’s art showcases the unbroken continuum of Indigenous culture and knowledge. She employs traditional weaving techniques and locally sourced materials, creating a bridge between past and present. While her work has been exhibited in museums and featured in prestigious collections nationally, this September will mark her first solo presentation in New York, introducing her practice to a global audience.
On view at the New York Armory Show, the joint presentation will debut a selection of the artist’s newest paintings and sculptures. The booth will be anchored by a selection of the artist’s large multi-panel artworks. Inspired by Indigenous weaving patterns, Siestreem’s painting practice features dynamic black and white geometric shapes overlaid by gestural paint and juxtaposed with xeroxed photo transfers of extinct Indigenous oyster shells and a basket woven by the artist, offering a tribute to the Indigenous worldview that plants, animals, and the elements are our relatives.
Another highlight at the Armory Show will be a new work from her ongoing “minion” sculpture series, consisting of slip-cast ceramic dance caps adorned with meticulously strung (Indigo-dyed cotton) strands of red, luminous glass beads, abalone (commonly seen throughout Indigenous regalia), and found buttons. Through this series, Siestreem ruminates about social justice, specifically as related to gender equality and women’s rights. She sees these works as protectors that simultaneously uplift the good and punish the bad. The presentation will also feature traditional woven and ceramic basket sculptures, representing ecological justice.
Alongside her works at the fair, Siestreem’s solo exhibition at Cristin Tierney Gallery will highlight the vast materiality and process in her practice. Titled milk and honey, the presentation will include paintings that combine geometric weaving patterns, collage elements, and gestural paint handling, in addition to a selection of woven works and sculptures.
These presentations underscore the relevance of Indigenous perspectives in contemporary art discourse, enriching the narrative and fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture in modern society.
Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) b. 1976 is a multidisciplinary artist from the Umpqua River Valley on the South Coast of Oregon, working in painting, photography, printmaking, weaving, and large-scale installation. She was awarded the University of Oregon’s 2022-23 CFAR Fellowship and the 2022 Forge Project Fellowship, which recognized her as one of six Indigenous individuals representing a broad diversity of cultural practices, participatory research, organizing models, and geographic contexts that honor Indigenous pasts and build Native futures. Her work, which has been exhibited internationally, is in many collections, including the Gochman Family Foundation (Miami, FL), Forge Project (Mahicannituck [Hudson River] Valley, NY), Missoula Art Museum (MT), Museum of Fine Art (Boston, MA), and the Portland Art Museum (OR). Her work has also been centered in recent exhibitions throughout Oregon including Where the Waters Come Together, Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, Portland, (2022); a solo exhibition, pearly gates, Artist Project Space, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene (2021-22); and solo exhibit <<<<<<<i love you lucille ball>>>>>>> (2022), ARTspace Gallery, Lake Oswego.
Siestreem’s work was recently included in the landmark 2023 book An Indigenous Present, conceived and edited by Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee). Coming from a family of professional artists and educators, she began her training at home. Her lifelong mentor is Lillian Pitt (Wasco, Warm Springs, Yakama), and her weaving teachers are Greg Archuleta (Grand Ronde) and Greg A. Robinson (Chinook Nation). Siestreem graduated Phi Kappa Phi with a BS from Portland State University in 2005. She earned an MFA with distinction from Pratt Art Institute in 2007. She created a self-sustaining weaving program for the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw people. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon, and is represented by the Elizabeth Leach Gallery.
