INSIDE NMAI
........................
Veregge’s earlier works reflect influences of not only Pacific formline style but also Pablo Picasso. Left: “Restoration” was Veregge’s first print, created in 2010 in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Paddle to Seattle. Right: “Shout” was drawn in 2008 for the cover of a conference program for the American Cancer Society, which wanted to raise awareness on reservations.
Both are ink and digital prints, 11" x 14".
Kathleen Ash-Milby (Navajo), the exhibit’s curator, says the Museum commissioned the artwork from Veregge because “We saw his bold, graphic and imaginative work as ideal for our audience in New York, and we wanted to give him just the right opportunity that would allow him to create something new and specific to our location.” Veregge’s unique style adapts the distinc-
tive characteristics of North Pacific Coast Native art and infuses it into his own vision of science fiction and comic book stories—in essence creating his own alternate universe, not just in his works but in his life. As he says, “I break a lot of rules.” Why “Of Gods and Heroes”? Veregge says
he wanted to show that “the mythic tales and battles between the forces of good and evil never go away. That regardless for all our technology and advancements as a people, we still like to cling to the morality tales of super beings and gods. Even though the names of
36 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER 2019
the heroes are not the same, the spirit of the art and message remains the same as it did thousands of years ago.”
CLOSE TO HOME
Veregge is of Suquamish and Duwamish ancestry and a member of the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe. Historically, the Salish- speaking S'Klallam people lived from central British Columbia to northwestern Oregon. Today, the S'Klallam Nation includes the Port Gamble, Jamestown and Lower Elwha Tribes on the north coast of Washington State and the Scia'new First Nation on the south coast of Vancouver Island. Veregge spent the first 30 years of his life on the Port Gamble reservation and even now, he lives less than 30 miles away. “The tribe is my family. It is my home,” he says. The S'Klallam are known as the Nux Sklai
Yem, or Strong People, and their formline art certainly reflects that. The bold, black and color lines that form squat, concentric ovoid
IMAGES COURTESY OF JEFFREY VEREGGE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
