Artist Statement
Jamie John is a two-spirit trans and queer Anishinaabe and Korean-American multi-disciplinary artist (he/him and they/themme) They are a dually enrolled tribal citizen of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the United States of America. A lack of connection with Korean heritage and family and being raised alongside their adopted Olmec/Nahua descendant family, much of early life was full of cultural richness and contrasts. Jamie’s cultural and familial background gives a profound sense of kinship and belonging as well as what it means to connect to the land, to our ancestry, and to each other.
From early on, art has been a way of navigating and communicating the complexities of colonialism, Indigenous worldviews, gender variance, and the intergenerational capacity for trauma and joy. The viewing of Jamie’s work begins with the understanding that we do not live in a post-colonial society and the Indian Wars never ended. The responsibilities Jamie has to their community(ies), kin, and culture is a mindset that extends throughout their body of work. Intertwining personal narrative with historical memory and cultural loss provides a window into Indigeneity in the 21st century. With works tackling topics of imperialism, colonial genocide, and historical consciousness Jamie hopes to uplift and emphasize stories of Indigenous resistance, kinship, and collective survival.
-
CV/RESUME
-
Exhibition history
-
education
Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI
-
2016
[ ], Phoenix Theatre, Interlochen, MI
-
2017
North, Phoenix Theatre, Interlochen, MI
Eclectic, Phoenix Theatre, Interlochen, MI
-
2018
Art in Ecology, Dow Center for Visual Arts, Interlochen, MI
Riley Woods, A Space For Art and Ecology, Interlochen, MI
Comparative Arts, Phoenix Theatre, Interlochen, MI
-
2019
Us and Ours, Cowell Family Cancer Center, Traverse City, MI
Revolve, Sawdust Theatre, Brooklyn, New York
Interlochen Public Library, Interlochen, MI
When The Ashes Settle, Phoenix Theatre, Interlochen, MI (solo)
Michigan Made, Lansing Art Gallery and Education Center, Lansing MI
-
2021
Home Away From Home: American Indian Boarding Schools, Dennos Museum, Traverse City, MI
Ofrenda: Celebrating el Día de Muertos, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit, MI
First Americans, The Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts, Manistee, MI
-
2022
Outcropping: Indigenous Art Now, Southampton Arts Center, Southampton, NY
Ma’s House Alumni Show, Ma’s House Shinnecock Indian Nation reservation, Southampton, NY
Indigenous Art Show, Stones Throw Theater, Lapeer MI
-
2023
Vitality and Continuity: Art in the experiences of Anishinaabe, Inuit, and Pueblo Women, Dennos Museum Store, MI
See What You Feel, Pines of Arcadia, MI
Family Ties, The Old Stone House, Brooklyn, NY
-
RESIDENCIES
Ailleurs Arts Museum, Shenyang China 2020
Ma’s House, Shinnecock Territory, Long Island, NY 2022
-
OTHER WORKS AND PUBLICATIONS
Publication, Prairie Light Review, Volume 42, no.1 2019
Muralist, Megan Hildebrant & Patty Smith, Interlochen, MI 2017-2019
Featured speaker and guest educator, Decolonizing STEM, Interlochen, MI 2020
Written and artistic publication, Prairie Light Review, Volume 43, no.1 2020
Junior camp instructor, Visual Arts Exploration, Interlochen, MI 2021
Guest Lecture, Interdisciplinary Arts, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI 2021-2022
Featured Artist, Millersville University, Ford Atrium, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Awareness Gathering 2022
Great Lakes Children’s Museum, Muralist and commissioned artist, Leelanau, Michigan 2022
Junior camp instructor, Visual Arts Exploration, Interlochen, MI, 2022
A Kernel Of Truth, Frankfort 48 Film Challenge, credited screenwriter, 2022
Guest studio artist, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI 2022-2023
Guest Educator, Leelanau Montessori Public School, Leelanau, MI 2023
Mural assistant for Hadassah Greensky, part of City Walls Detroit, Detroit, MI 2023
-
ACCOLADES & FELLOWSHIPS
Presidents Young Artists Award, Intelochen, MI 2019
Elizabeth Charles Emerging Artists Award, Lansing, MI 2020
Sundance Institute Full Circle Fellow, Salt Lake City, UT 2021-2022
Cousin Collective grant recipient, Cycle II, 2022
Trans Possibilities Initiative Sundance Fellow 2023