Artist DG House speaks as exhibit wraps up at Hockaday Museum

Indigenous artist DG House is providing an art demonstration at the Hockaday Museum as an exhibit of her work wraps up.

House will provide the demonstration and talk on Thursday, March 21 from 6-7 p.m. Attendance is free for members and nonmembers. 

The event is a great opportunity to visit her solo exhibition titled In That Still Moment which is on display through March 23. 

The exhibit, which features 20 new paintings, captures the wonder and majesty of the Yellowstone and Grand Teton ecosystem in House’s energized style.

House, who is enrolled in the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama, pays homage to indigenous people of the past and present through images of wildlife and references to indigenous patterns and people. Using multiple layers of water-based oil, acrylics, pastels, and colored pencils, House imbues her subjects with rich personalities and portrays her reverence for the animals and denizens of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Her depictions of Rocky Mountain wildlife and First Peoples are warm, welcoming and charming, according to a press release. 

House has documented the park system for 42 years, starting as a freelance photographer in Yellowstone. She served as a Yellowstone Concession Aires Artist-in-Residence in the national park for the past 17 years and for 27 years, was part of the Grand Teton National Park’s American Indian Guest Artist Program, amassing a wealth of geologic and biological knowledge from rangers.

Each painting draws from her encounters in the parks.

“After 27 years as a painter, I’ve never run out of ideas. Each piece I create is based on a real-life encounter with perhaps a grizzly walking on a trail, a wolf hunting in a valley, or a moose feeding in the river. Whatever the interaction, each painting is a story,” House said. 

House’s portfolio is a reminder of the complexity and fragility of the environment and local histories.

“Though her palette is vivid, and her subjects are approachable, there is a daunting power and keen awareness in the expressions of the characters. The simple strokes and shapes that form the eyes of a rabbit, buffalo, or horse evoke the sense that these animals are gazing back at the viewer from their canvas cage,” the press release states. 

The show is a Montana Art Gallery Directors Association traveling exhibit offered by the Bozeman-based nonprofit Support Local Artists and Musicians. The paintings in the exhibit were funded by an American Rescue Plan Act grant provided by the Montana Arts Council. 

For more information, visit https://hockadaymuseum.com/.