In Focus: Watermark Art Center Presents Gidibaajimomin, Or “We Tell Stories”

“My expressions are stories, and that’s usually where I pull my work from is my heritage, again, my Ojibwe heritage,” says artist Gordon Coons.

Take a look at the latest exhibit in the Miikanan gallery at the Watermark Art Center. It’s called Gidibaajimomin, or “We Tell Stories.” The exhibit features mixed media prints and artwork created by two artists. Their names are Gordon Coons form the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation in Northern Wisconsin and Anna Johnson from Turtle Mountain in North Dakota.

“I take a lot of inspiration from the Turtle Mountains because of the beauty and the trees and the nature and everything, and my birch bark comes from there. The stuff that I use in collages come from the Turtle Mountains,” says Johnson.

The artwork in Gidibaajimomin speaks for itself. Each print tells the story of the artists background, life or aspirations.

“It’s a image I did with 24 karat gold leaf representing the sun, and I did the rest with cedar smoke. Cedar smoke is a spiritual smoke and I wanted to do something like this,” says Coons.

To make their artwork, the artists pull from different materials such as fabric, newspaper clippings, flowers, twigs, gold leaf, and much more. Both Coons and Johnson say being featured at the Watermark is something extraordinary.

“I live in Minneapolis, and this is quite a fabulous star for the north. It’s a great gallery! I hope everybody comes out and sees not only my work, but Anna Johnson’s some of her work,” says Coons.

Johnson adds, “I don’t have shows very often, so it’s a huge honor for me to be anywhere, outside of where I’m from, to have my artwork displayed.”

The Gidibaajimomin exhibit will be up in the Watermark Art Center until November 3^rd.