Artist Profile: Angel White Eyes
Mediums: Photography, Beadwork, Graphic Design
Angel White Eyes is a 2008 graduate of Red Cloud Indian School and currently serves as an Advancement Associate on campus. However, off campus she is also known as an up-and-coming artist and photographer. Born in Rapid City, South Dakota, Angel moved to Pine Ridge Reservation at the age of seven. Her mother, Vita White Eyes, was a photographer and Angel remembers always being surrounded by art during her childhood.
Angel has been participating in art shows since high school and in June of 2014 she received her Associate Degree in Fine Arts from Oglala Lakota College. Angel’s career has taken off recently and her photos are receiving professional recognition. Last year, Angel won second place in photography division of the Red Cloud Indian Art Show for her piece Tangled Fringe, Rant and she was highlighted by a National Geographic photographer for her talent. She is currently working with other local artists to start a reservation-based production studio and has recently been featured on Buzzfeed and other publications.
We sat down with Angel as she was preparing for her graduation ceremony to reflect on her journey and learn more about what brought her to photography.
Q&A:
You’ve dabbled in different mediums before, what brought you to photography?
My mother really inspired me as I was growing up. We always had art around the house and I remember admiring my mother’s photographic work.
I’ve been into graphic design and graphic art for a long time. I had wanted to create my own graphics for websites and in order to do that I needed photos to edit, so I began taking my own pictures. Over the next few years, I began to focus more on the photography itself and I decided to start entering my pieces in shows.
One year, my mother decided to enter some of her pictures in the Red Cloud Indian Art Show and wanted me to edit some of the photos she took. That year we actually created a collaborative piece together. She had taken some photographs and I used Adobe Photoshop to edit them together into a piece. That was a turning point that reinforced my passion for art and photography.
While I enjoyed other art forms, such as drawing and doing beadwork, there was something about photography and it’s what I’ve settled into.
Do you approach your photography with a certain mindset? Is there a message you want to convey?
I love the stories within a photograph. While there’s an original story behind every photo, someone can interpret that one image in an infinite number of ways. I love that moment when I can look at one of my photos and say, “there’s a great story here.” There’s not one right way to look at a picture, which is what art is supposed to be, right? Art is supposed to speak to the audience at different levels and let someone’s imagination take whichever route it wants. I love the possibilities.
As a young artist, do you have any words of advice for other artists like yourself?
You should always keep creating. Even when you’re feeling discouraged—which can happen to anyone—just keep going because eventually it will pay off. Somewhere out there is someone who is going to love your work and love what you do and want more of it.
Last year I received some recognition for my work that really encouraged me. Aaron Huey, a well-known photographer for National Geographic saw some of my photographs and liked them so much he contacted me. He helped me secure a scholarship from the National Geographic Society that brought me to a professional photography workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was an incredible experience to work with professionals from around the world and I learned so much. This is all to say that good things happen to artists that don’t quit on their work. So stay with it!
For More From Angel:
|
 |
Art: All Rights Reserved ©Angel White Eyes