Sean Chandler: New Works

Sean Chandler (Aaniiih) presents his first solo exhibition at a Montana museum and first significant exhibition in over a decade. His work infuses experiences from his childhood in Eastern Montana, including his love of Major League Baseball, and the history of Native assimilation into white culture. He also blends in teachings from his father, Al Chandler, grew up on an Indian Residential School near Pierre, South Dakota.
“Once in the mode to create, I like to just let the work take me where I’m supposed to go But very often, parts of the painting that seemed to be the best expressions turn out to be better by covering them up.  Maybe that is due in part to me, covering myself, layer by layer. More likely, however, it is a line formed by my own contemporary experiences in mainstream society connected to the years endured by ancestral experiences of dehumanization, racism, and cultural genocide,” he says of his work.