Traveling Collections

Wendy Red Star: A Scratch on the Earth, is a mid-career survey of the work of Portland-based artist Wendy Red Star. An enrolled member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Tribe, Red Star works across disciplines to explore the intersections of Native American ideologies and colonialist structures, both historically and in contemporary society.  Drawing on pop culture, conceptual art strategies, and the Crow traditions within which she was raised, Red Star pushes photography in new directions—from self-portraiture to photo-collage and mixed media—to bring to life her unique perspective on American history.

The importance of family, the Indigenous roots of feminism, Crow mythology, the history of the Montana landscape, and the pageantry of Crow Fest are among the subjects that Red Star brings to life in this exhibition. With 38 works including an immersive full dome film, A Scratch on the Earth explores how boundaries between cultural, racial, social, and gender lines are reinforced in America, and how these lines blur across time and place.