Jordan Ann Craig: sharp tongue soft skin

Hales is delighted to announce sharp tongue soft skin, Northern Cheyenne and Cheyenne artist Jordan Ann Craig’s debut solo exhibition with the gallery. Known for her large-scale paintings, Craig's abstract compositions are characterized by a dynamic exploration and interpretation of Northern Cheyenne and Cheyenne material culture. Craig is currently included in Patterns of Knowing at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center and will have a solo exhibition at The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) in 2025.   

New paintings made for the show are Craig’s largest and most complex to date, deepening her use of color, pattern and bolder geometric schemes. In expansive compositions of repeated forms, she considers spatial relationships — experimenting with framing devices to emphasize the edge of the canvas as well as making two monumental diptychs. Each intricate painting has an underlying grid which unifies her exploration of the languages of modern abstract painting and its relationship to both historic and contemporary Indigenous culture. Her visual lexicon is drawn from both Northern Cheyenne and Cheyenne design and a history of abstract painting, speaking to artmaking rooted in the visionary pedagogy of the 1960-1970s from the Institute of American Indian Arts, New Mexico, which challenged expectations of Native American art.   

Craig's practice is grounded in research, which begins in museum collections and archives.  Her pictorial vocabulary builds upon the initial inspiration of Northern Cheyenne beadwork, drawings and textiles, which can be seen in specific recurring patterning. In the development of her paintings, she expands the parameters of the interplays of color and geometry through an exacting application of paint. Her nuanced color combinations are informed by the world around her, specifically her affinity to the changing of seasons and their effect on the landscape surrounding her studio in Pojoaque Valley, New Mexico. In the process of painting, Craig meditates on the personal and collective significance of the designs, sensitively exploring a connection to both her heritage and identity.  

Craig (b. 1992 San Jose, CA, USA) received her BA in Studio Art and Psychology from Dartmouth College in 2015. She lives and works in Pojoaque Valley, New Mexico.   

In 2020, Craig's first solo institutional exhibition, Your Favorite Color is Yellow, was held at Roswell Museum of Art, NM, USA. She has had solo exhibitions at the School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM; The Guesthouse, Cork, Ireland; Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia, Italy; Nearburg Gallery, Black Family Visual Arts Center, Hanover, NH; October Gallery, London, UK; and Barrows Rotunda, Dartmouth College, NH. Craig has been included in numerous group shows including Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, CA, USA; The Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM; Trout Museum of Art, WI; Berkeley Arts Center, CA; Rainmaker Gallery, Bristol, UK; October Gallery, London, UK; Santa Fe Community Convention Center, NM; El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, NM; Fort Worth Community Arts Center, TX; Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Seven Stars Art Center, Sharon, VT; Black Family Visual Arts Center, Hanover, NH. 

Craig’s work is included in collections at the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, Roswell, NM; IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS; Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA; School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM; A LAB, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Cork Printmakers, Ireland; Tia Collection, Santa Fe, NM and Forge Collection, Taghkanic, NY.