St. Katherine of Karluk
I was inspired by stories and photographs of my great-grandmother Katherine. She was from the Alaska Native village of Karluk and spoke Alutiiq, her native language, and Russian. She married an Estonian/Russian immigrant, and died from tuberculosis in her 40’s. The Russian and American occupation of Alaska was devastating to the Alutiiq people and the intent of this portrait is to elevate Alutiiq spiritual traditions as equal to those of the Western world, melding the Christian symbols of the colonizers with those of my indigenous ancestors. This painting was originally part of a group exhibition, Decolonizing Alaska.