Dyani White Hawk: Love Language
Rooted in intergenerational knowledge, Dyani White Hawk’s (Sičáŋǧu Lakota, b. 1976) art centres on connection — between one another, past and present, earth and sky. By foregrounding Lakota forms and motifs, she challenges prevailing histories and practices surrounding abstract art. Featuring multimedia paintings, sculpture, video, and more, Love Language gathers 15 years of the artist’s work in this major survey.
The exhibition unfolds across four sections named by the artist to speak to Indigenous value systems: See, Honour, Nurture, and Celebrate. See introduces visitors to White Hawk’s worldview. Opening with early pieces that combine quillwork, beadwork, and painting, the artist examines, dissects, and reassembles elements of her own Sičáŋǧu Lakota and European American ancestries. Visitors will encounter Lakota forms and teachings that inform her practice, alongside works addressing urgent issues of settler colonialism and oppression.
Event/Exhibition meta autogenerated block.
When
April 25, 2026 – October 4, 2026
Where
Marquee Gallery
In Honour and Nurture, White Hawk uplifts family, ancestors, and community. Her acclaimed Quiet Strength series honours the labour of Indigenous women by referencing Lakota quillwork in the form of large abstract paintings. The multichannel video installation LISTEN (2020–ongoing) features contemporary Indigenous women speaking in their Native languages on their homelands. I Am Your Relative (2020), with photography by Tom Jones (Ho-Chunk), presents life-size photographic portraits carrying powerful language: “I am / more than your desire / more than your fantasy / more than a mascot / ancestral love prayer sacrifice / your relative.”
The exhibition’s final section, Celebrate, marries traditional techniques with outsize scale, paying homage to small gestures that hold great meaning. Featured here are a new series of glass mosaics, beaded sculptures, and White Hawk’s monumental Wopila | Lineage painting. Made in collaboration with a skilled team of studio beadworkers, this shimmering expanse of pattern and colour invites close inspection of both its material construction and its historical underpinnings.
Visitors are encouraged to engage with Love Language as a community space. The galleries offer interpretive materials, educational resources, and lounge area with and cushions and blankets designed by the artist.
Curatorial Team
Tarah Hogue (Métis), Adjunct Curator of Indigenous Art, Remai Modern, and Siri Engberg, Senior Curator and Director of Visual Arts, Walker Art Center; with Brandon Eng, Curatorial Assistant, Visual Arts, Walker Art Center
Dyani White Hawk: Love Language is co-organized by Remai Modern, Saskatoon and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Lead support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Additional support is provided by Akio Tagawa. The exhibition catalogue is supported by Girlfriend Fund.