Artwork copyright Kay WalkingStick. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Kay WalkingStick. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2023.

#237, Painted Desert, 1984

Kay WalkingStick
American Cherokee (born 1935)

Location: Washington State University, Pullman

About the Artwork

#237, Painted Desert is part of Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick's body of abstract paintings created by layering densely applied oil paint by hand. These works feature precise geometric arcs and shapes that create a dualistic tension with the composition's expressive surface. Describing the impact of her heritage on her work, WalkingStick notes, "I want to make art that is strong, has the mark of the hand, and reaches people on a deep level, like Native American ancestral art does." This artwork is part of Beyond Blue Mountains, a collection that was curated by late Tlingit (Native Alaskan) artist Jim Schoppert. It presents the work of Native American artists of diverse heritage, ideas, materials, and styles. The collection takes an in-depth look at the artists’ unique voices and interpretations of tradition.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Washington State University.

About the Artist

Artist Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) creates landscape and abstract paintings that explore expressive and symbolic forms. She notes, "My paintings take a broad view of what constitutes Native American Art. My wish has been to express our Native & non-native shared identity... I want all people to hold onto their cultures – they are precious – but I also want to encourage a mutual recognition of shared being. My goal has always been to paint about who I am as a 20th/21st century artist, and also as a Native American."
WalkingStick earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Beaver College in Pennsylvania and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York in 1975. Her artworks are in museums and collections across the U.S., including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and many others. The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. curated a retrospective of Kay WalkingStick's art in 2016 that toured the U.S. for two years.