Additional works by Marie Watt

Future Dreaming, the 2024 Marcus exhibition, imagines futures that are influenced by Indigenous knowledge and wisdom, impacting our existing modes of living, thinking, relating and convening to make way for a more equitable and sustainable existence for all beings. In this gallery, Marie Watt, a member of the Turtle Clan of Seneca Nation (Haudenosaunee) with German-Scot ancestry, bends space and time in service of encouraging new perspectives based on the seven principles of Indigenous storywork: respect, responsibility, reciprocity, reverence, holism, interrelatedness, and synergy.

Printmaking has been an integral part of Watt’s practice for over 30 years, influencing her sculptural work and  vice versa. Working collaboratively with master printers suits her style of working. It has also opened up creative possibilities which have affected the trajectory of her artistic journey. Horizon: Ancient and Young Observer (V.1) (2023) is a call and response. The words were deliberately chosen to expand the notion of human relatedness to animals, nature, sky, water, as well as to past and future generations.

For Vivid Dreams (Blossom) (2023) and Vivid Dream (Liberty) (2023), Watt made a collage of pieces of cloth, thread, and images of jingles, objects made from the rolled tops of tobacco cans and other tin lids which are grounded in Indigenous histories of storytelling, adornment, and ritual. The works allude to the magic that occurs with Watt’s sewing circles and other collaborative projects, where a group gathers to create a specific project, and each participant leaves with a greater sense of community and connection.

Skywalker/Skyscraper: Forest (2024) holds the floor of this gallery, an eight-part sculpture made of steel I-beams, cedar blocks, and stacks of blankets. The title references Haudenosaunee ironworkers, known as “skywalkers” for their ability to work without safety harnesses in the course of building New York City’s skyscrapers. Each I-beam is inscribed with twinning words indicating familial relationships. Watt drew inspiration from Marvin Gaye’s 1971 song “What’s Going On,” in which the words “mother, mother” and “brother, brother” are calls to kinship and community aid, concepts that echo her Indigenous beliefs. Although Gaye’s song was recorded in the context of widespread social unrest and protests during the Vietnam War and the struggle for civil rights, Watt believes this continued call  to collective action is necessary to effect meaningful change on issues concerning racial equality, gender equality, and the environment.

The final work in this gallery, Generous Ones (Summit) (2016), is a study for a larger sculptural wall piece honoring Tacoma, Washington’s Indigenous inhabitants, the Puyallup and Coast Salish People. Puyallup means “generous and welcoming behavior to all people (friends or strangers) who enter our lands.” Watt created it to remind us to acknowledge those who have been generous to us in our lives.

These works are on display in the Cottage Gallery, located near Parking Lot 2. The Cottage Gallery will be open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10am–2pm (or by appointment). If you would like to make an appointment, please email lap_programs@montalvoarts.org.

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Horizon: Ancient and Young Observer (V.1), 2023
Woodcut on hand-dyed Sekishu with silver leaf embellishment.
Printed by Harry Schneider, assisted by Alejandra Arias Sevilla and Lori Linton.
20 3/4 x 92 inches
Edition of 10
Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery

Marie Watt