Installation view of Patterns of Knowing (2023-05-18/2023-10-23) by Jordan Ann CraigOklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Patterns of Knowing was on view in the Mary LeFlore Clements Oklahoma Gallery from May 18-Oct. 23, 2023.
Pattern and information
Patterns of Knowing featured works by three Indigenous artists: Jordan Ann Craig, the late Benjamin Harjo Jr., and Jeri Redcorn. Through ceramics, paintings, prints, and drawings, they considered the relationships between art and cultural insight.
Installation view of Patterns of Knowing (2023-05-18/2023-10-23) by Jordan Ann CraigOklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Translating beadwork to painting
Craig's vivid paintings are a compilation of symmetrical, repeated blocks of color in varying hues. Her work draws upon the color and rhythm of Indigenous patch- and beadwork to visually articulate time, space, and intimate experiences.
In print
Craig's Wallpaper I consists of 48 screenprinted wallpaper pages that recontextualize seven influential Indigenous ceramics patterns. The book simultaneously speaks to the gaps in Western art history and serves as a vital artistic source in contemporary art.
Installation view of Patterns of Knowing (2023-05-18/2023-10-23) by Benjamin Harjo Jr.Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Benjamin Harjo Jr.'s colorful patternwork
Harjo created colorful prints and paintings often featuring figures in motion against a background frieze of symbols, experimenting with Shawnee and Seminole patterns to generate perspective depth within his compositions.
Harjo passed away in May 2023. He was considered a community leader in culture and art.
Harjo's checkerboard pattern is found in iterations across the world. For Harjo, it held deeper meaning within his community, interpreting the duality of this design as a visual portal between realms of life and death.
Ayo Wahdut Kuku Bit (Sky Earth Water II) (2023) by Jereldine "Jeri" RedcornOklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Jeri Redcorn's work reviving Caddo pottery
Redcorn is known for revitalizing the art of traditional Caddo pottery. Her ceramic vessels embrace mathematical and philosophical principles behind Caddoan pottery, featuring geometric patterns and scrollwork. Redcorn’s work evokes the path of heritage and collective existence.
In Progress: Patterns of Knowing (2023) by Jeri RedcornOklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Redcorn collaborated with local artist Kristin Gentry (Choctaw Nation of OK) to translate her pottery design into a large-scale, 2-D mural. Redcorn honors the thriving creative impulse of her culture, and she invites audiences to examine the relationship between art and medium.
Take a closer look
Curved lobes with serrated veins emanate from the opening, radiating outward like the fruit, leaves, and tendrils of the Pawpaw tree. The placement of shapes and forms evokes the influence that heritage Caddo patterns have had as they travel from one generation to the next.
Installation view of Patterns of Knowing (2023-05-18/2023-10-23) by Jordan Ann CraigOklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Connecting ideas from past to present
Patterns of Knowing highlighted artworks in which rhythmic, repeated arrangements of shapes, colors, and symbols carry knowledge across generations. The exhibition explored how Indigenous artistic principles and culture continue to move and evolve between media.
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