Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) | The Armory Show
September 5 - 8, 2024
Javits Center, Booth #117
they would prefer to be a cloud, fastened to the rock, 2013-2022
acrylic, graphite, Xerox transfer on panels
16 x 16 in. / 40.75 x 40.75 cm. each panel
88 x 176 in. / 223.5 x 447 cm. overall
$45,000
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.
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. Siestreem’s 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. While her work has been exhibited in museums and featured in prestigious collections nationally, this September marks her first solo presentation in New York, introducing her practice to a global audience.
NEW PAINTINGS
un-ring bells, 2024
acrylic, graphite, Xerox transfer on panels
72 x 96 in. / 183 x 244 cm.
$25,000
On view at the New York Armory Show, the joint presentation debuts a selection of the artist’s newest paintings and sculptures. The booth is 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.
oh but the key note (ROSES), 2024
acrylic, graphite, Xerox transfer on panels
72 x 48 in. / 183 x 122 cm.
$14,000
“I make abstract paintings based in the ceremonial traditions of my ancestors combined with contemporary modes of making. My process is based on observations of Nature combined with a formal structure and improvisational practice. In the same way we receive an energetic charge from contact with the land, other animals or a natural event, I intend these paintings to affect the viewer.
Art is a historic record and public education, an expression of cultural authority, and an act of love. I also hope my people see themselves in mine, and that it brings them joy.”
foxes on the moon, 2024
acrylic, graphite, Xerox transfer on panels
49 x 72 in. / 124.5 x 183 cm.
$14,000
rockefeller dance apron for andy, 2024
acrylic, graphite, Xerox transfer on panels
48 x 48 in. / 122 x 122 cm.
SOLD
BASKETS IN THE ROUND
The presentation with The Armory and Cristin Tierney will also feature traditional woven and ceramic basket sculptures, representing ecological justice. Siestreem employs traditional weaving techniques and locally sourced materials, creating a bridge between past and present.
“The definition of cultural tradition is a practice handed down one generation to the next. It produces a fluid vessel that grows with each generation through response to the changing nature of the contemporary world. These historic baskets are reservoirs of that accumulated knowledge up until the time of contact; through a studied literacy, that history can be read in their bodies.
The baskets figure into our origin stories. We look to them as manifestation of the intrinsic knowledge of the land and animals coming together through the creative act and urge to innovate. Each basket is a living spiritual reservoir; carrying the residue of the ceremonial practice that surrounds their making and that they participate in once they are full bodied. ”
glass bat, 2024
acrylic, graphite, Xerox transfer on panels
81 x 65 in. / 205.75 x 165 cm.
$18,000
skyline, 2024
seven glazed slip cast ceramic baskets
installation: each 8.75 x 8.25 x 8 in. / 22.25 x 21 x 20.25 cm.
Edition of 3, 2 APs
$24,000
milk and honey, 2024
glazed slip cast ceramic basket
8.75 x 8.25 x 8 in. / 22.25 x 21 x 20.25 cm.
Edition of 10, 2 APs
$3,500
MINION SERIES
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.
M(sweet)16, 2024
four glazed slip cast ceramic dance caps, Salmon vertebra, Abalone, plastic buttons, Czech white heart beads, Indigo dyed Diné Wool (Dakota Mace, NM), woven industrial cotton cording, canvas and thread
72 x 8 x 11 in. / 183 x 20.25 x 28 cm. each
dimensions variable
$24,000
DANCE CAPS
“When a cap is danced or displayed in public, the power of my relatives and the land that gave them to us is present and surrounds all that share the space.”
transtemporal dance cap (ARETHA FRANKLIN, reigns supreme), 2022
3D printed scan of a hand woven dance cap (Nylon 12 Powder)
5 x 8 x 6 in. / 12.75 x 20.25 x 15.25 cm.
POR
copper penny, 2024
glazed slip cast ceramic dance cap
5 x 8 x 6 in. / 12.75 x 20.25 x 15.25 cm.
Artist Proof
$2,000
the night sky, 2022
glazed slip cast ceramic dance cap
5 x 8 x 6 in. / 12.75 x 20.25 x 15.25 cm.
Artist Proof
$2,000
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.
resist resist resist resist, 2018
acrylic, graphite, color pencil and China Marker on panel
20 x 20 in. / 50.75 x 50.75 cm.
$2,500
3/15/2020 minion, 2024
four glazed slip cast ceramic dance caps, Salmon vertebra, Abalone, plastic buttons, Czech white heart beads, Indigo dyed Diné Wool, woven industrial cotton cording, canvas and thread
72 x 8 x 11 in. / 183 x 20.25 x 28 cm. each
dimensions variable
$24,000
WORKS ON PAPER
looking for the land///found the weather, 2022
acrylic, graphite, logging crayon, gesso on BFK Rives paper
triptych: 70 x 126 in. / 177.75 x 320 cm. paper
$12,000
EXHIBITION INFORMATION
The Armory Show
Javits Center, Booth #117
429 11th Ave, New York, NY 10001
September 5 - 8, 2024
milk and honey
Cristin Tierney Gallery
219 Bowery Floor 2, New York, NY 10002
September 6 - October 19, 2024
Opening reception: September 6, 6 - 8 pm
ABOUT THE ARTIST
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.
ARTIST PAGE
PRESS RELEASE
BIO / CV
PRESS
VIDEO
ALL ARTWORK