Hock E Aye VI Edgar Heap of Birds: ‘If you don’t go out there and live with the community, some day you won’t have anything to paint about.’

For the last three decades, Hock E Aye VI Edgar Heap of Birds has addressed the tumultuous, often violent, experience of Indigenous Americans through a multidisciplinary practice. In this episode of ‘Meet the artists’, we visit the artist in his Oklahoma City studio and on the reservation where his family still holds land.

Large prints are among Edgar Heap of Birds' most notable works. Brief lines of text, such as ‘Do Not Dance for Pay’, raise questions of empowerment, identity, and history. For these monumental wall installations, seen in the film, he often produces two prints: one primary print and a second ‘ghost print’, which is created without re-inking the print plate. They are hung to mirror each other. ‘The primary prints represent who we are as Native people: bright, vibrant, strong, clear,’ he explains. The ghost prints reflect how he believes many still see his community, ‘gone, like ghosts,’ the artist says. Through his artistic practice, Edgar Heap of Birds has become a true advocate for Native communities, whose voices remain too often unheard.

Hock E Aye VI Edgar Heap of Birds is represented by K Art, Buffalo. His large-scale print work Columbus Day (2019–2020) will be on view in the Meridians sector at Art Basel Miami Beach.

Film
Film, Shot, Edit: Shaandiin Tome
Sound, Music, Additional Camera: Forrest Goodluck

Nowness
Creative Director: Bunny Kinney
Managing Director: Gavin Humphries
Video Commissioner: Katie Metcalfe
Producer: Noor Miah
Video Editor: Harry Bowley

Art Basel
Executive Editor: Coline Milliard
Senior Editor: Alicia Reuter
Video Commissioner: Jeanne-Salomé Rochat
Creative Producer: Akiel Gallina