Artwork copyright Ka'ila Farrell-Smith. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Ka'ila Farrell-Smith. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Dennis Dehart, 2021.

Vision Quest Glyphology, 2013

Ka'ila Farrell-Smith
(American | Klamath, born 1982)

Location: Kamiak Elementary, Pullman

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Vision Quest Glyphology by Ka'ila Farrell-Smith (Klamath and Modoc) features her versions of petroglyphs found along the Nch’i-Wána River, or the Columbia River. Many of these petroglyphs were lost after the construction of dams. The petroglyphs inspired Farrell-Smith but she uses art to construct her own meanings for them.

Farrell-Smith also uses white paint as a form of erasure, reclaiming colonizer’s attempts to erase Indigenous power and control. Walking and hiking are an important part of her life and her art. Her painting practice is a response to the land.

This artwork is part of a curated collection by RYAN! Feddersen (Okanogan and Arrow Lakes) at Kamiak Elementary, Pullman School District, in Eastern Washington. RYAN! drew inspiration from the school's namesake, Chief Kamiakin, and his five wives. Her curated collection honors the essential and often under-recognized role that matriarchs play in history by highlighting Indigenous artists whose work connects with activism, collaboration, resistance, and community building.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Pullman School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ka'ila Farrell-Smith is a contemporary artist of Klamath, Modoc, Irish, and French heritage. She creates paintings, objects, and installations. Her work channels cultural, political, and historical research through a creative flow of experimentation and artistic playfulness. She uses painting and traditional Indigenous art practices to explore the space in-between the Indigenous and western worlds. She lives and creates on her ancestral homelands in Southern Oregon and this directly informs her art.
Farrell-Smith earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Portland State University. She lives in rural Modoc Point, Oregon. She is also a co-director and co-guide for Signal Fire, an organization that connects artists to wild places.