Cowgirls and Indians

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Sarah Sense, “Grandparent’s Stories,” 2018

woven archival inkjet prints on rice paper and bamboo paper, wax, tape, pen and ink, 32” x 48” (image courtesy of Sarah Sense)

The way Indigenous stories, myths and stereotypes are used – and misused – in popular culture is debunked beautifully by American artist Sarah Sense in Cowgirls and Indians, on view at Urban Shaman in Winnipeg until March 16.

Sense, whose work has long explored narratives of female Indigenous power, is responding to the current political climate in the United States by retelling the stories of Indigenous people in film, television and print media.

Her large intricately designed pieces feature various types of cut paper that she weaves in and out of different found images and texts. Drawing from Choctaw patterns and Chitimacha basket-weaving techniques in what is now Louisiana, she incorporates this deep history of making with the skilful dissection of both popular imagery and her own family memorabilia.

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Sarah Sense, “Cowgirls and Cowboys with Ronald Reagan,” 2018

woven archival inkjet print on bamboo paper, found imagery, wax and tape, 32” x 48” (image courtesy of Sarah Sense)

Her geometric woven patterns, a reminder about the truths of a cultural history, feel defiant yet beautiful.

Vintage Hollywood actors and American presidents slip in and around photographs of reclining cowgirls and pin-ups. Cowgirls and Their Guns, for instance, reads like a glitchy history of public understandings of violence, cowgirls and Indigenous women.

Sense’s use of layering gives the works heft, both in their meaning and visual impact. Each piece becomes a visual story. In Stillness on the Bayou, for example, the weaving drops out at the bottom, allowing the paper to sit as calmly as the water it refers to.

Melancholy Fate, which sprawls across a gallery wall, was created specifically for this show. It includes text from an article by a mid-19th century critic who saw a group of Ojibwe performers at Piccadilly Circus in London.

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Sarah Sense, “The Princesses with the Lone Ranger and Sitting Bull,” 2018

woven archival inkjet prints on bamboo paper, found imagery and tape, 32” x 48” (image courtesy of Sarah Sense)

Sense’s videos complement these works. Here it seems she wants viewers to connect more deeply to her personal history. From a song from the bayou to a campy, yet pointed photo shoot in which Sense and other models pose as the characters she pulls apart, the videos offer different takes on her themes.

A few days after the last U.S. election, my husband turned to me in the midst of brushing his teeth and said through a mouthful of minty foam: “Well, at least we know we will be getting some fantastic art and music out of this mess.” Cowgirls and Indians complies. ■

Cowgirls and Indians is on view at Urban Shaman in Winnipeg from Feb. 1 to March 16, 2019.