Sky Hopinka: Languages

Photography, Poetry and Film

on view October 2-November 17

Join us! Reception with Sky Hopinka Friday, October 2 5:30-7:30pm

Acclaimed artist Sky Hopinka, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and a descendent of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, is a filmmaker, photographer, and poet creating works heavily informed by his indigenous heritage. In this exhibition, language is a central of Hopinka’s photography and experimental filmmaking, blurring distinctions between cinema and poetry. Hopinka layers imagery, sound, and text to create an innovative visual language. 

This is a collaboration between the Kooyumjian Gallery, the David Clewell Visiting Writers Series and the Webster University Film Series.

Sky Hopinka: Languages

Photography, Poetry and Film

Join us for Photography, Poetry and Film Exhibition from this impactful artist: 5:30pm-7:30pm Poetry Reading and Exhibition Reception in conjunction with the David Clewell Visiting Writers Series and the Kooyumjian Gallery.

Also an campus after this reception, the Webster University Film Series is hosting a screening of "Powwow People" with Sky Hopinka in Winnifred Moore Auditorium at 7:30pm-9pm. Please note: the film screening is a paid event (ticket purchased at door), all other Sky Hopinka Events are free.

Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians) was born and raised in Ferndale, Washington and spent a number of years in California, Oregon and Wisconsin. In Portland he studied and taught chinuk wawa, a language indigenous to the Lower Columbia River Basin. His video, photo and text work centers around personal positions of Indigenous homeland and landscape, designs of language as containers of culture expressed through personal, documentary and nonfiction forms of media. His work has played at various festivals including Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. He was a Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University fellow, Sundance Art of Nonfiction Fellow, Art Matters Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, Forge Project Fellow and MacArther Fellow. He received the Alpert Award for Film/Video and the Infinity Award in Art from the International Center of Photography.

Also on Exhibit:

Lisa Halley Melching: You Are Here

Local photogrpaher Lisa Halley Melching presents a new body of work in this exhibition. Lisa explains, "There is a fine line between the real and the perceived, with a continuous ripple through space and time. Distilling it all is impossible. In these times of upheaval, I find myself deeply drawn to the natural world. Nature does not just endure change; it embodies it. This photographic work explores the lure of the wild, capturing images layered with light and motion to interpret a world in flux. With an acute sensitivity to my surroundings, I tend to take it all in at once, which can be quite overwhelming. The camera enables me to seek order in this chaos and to frame a single moment that freezes the frenzy but acknowledges the blurs of my perception."

Reception in Kooyumjian Gallery 5:30-7:30pm

All Events and Exhibits in the Kooyumjian Gallery are free and open to the public.

Thank you to our partner organization: The Novel Neighbor in Webster Goves and St. Louis Poetry Center

Thank you to the Missouri Arts Council for their continued support.

Questions? email kgallery@webster.edu