Kay WalkingStick, Archetypal Image, 1975
Kay WalkingStick’s Apron Agitato (1974), Archetypal Image (1975) and Chief Joseph Series (1974–76) are included in An Indigenous Present, on view at The Frist Art Museum, TN, USA through 27 September 2026. The exhibition debuted at the ICA, Boston and will continue to the Frye Art Museum, Seattle (7 November 2026–14 February 2027).
Created while WalkingStick was studying at Pratt Institute, Apron Agitato (1974) is one of a series of representational studies of an artist's apron suspended from the three points of an isosceles triangle. The apron’s iconic shape, particularly the curved negative space formed by the draped fabric, inspired the arc, a form WalkingStick would return to throughout her career.
Archetypal Image, (1975), is a seminal example of WalkingStick’s early experiments in abstraction. Rooted in studies of a tipi, a bowed rectangular form stretches across the picture pane. Abstracting the representation of the tipi to present an ambiguous form allowed WalkingStick to push beyond literal interpretation and towards a deep engagement with modernism.
'Chief Joseph Series' (1974-76) continues this exploration in a tribute to the Nez Percé leader. Each of the 36 paintings in the series features a unique arrangement of four recurring arc forms - two small and two large segments of a sphere. Though entirely abstract and almost formulaic in conception, the rhythm and repetition of the multiple canvases evoke the long journey of Chief Joseph and his followers across hundreds of miles of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana territories. At the level of the individual panels, this sense of movement is absent; in its place is an "absolutely static form" that the artist intended to convey a sense of eternal calm.
1: Kay WalkingStick, Apron Agitato, 1974
2: Kay WalkingStick, Archetypal Image 1975
3: Installation views, Kay WalkingStick, Chief Joseph Series, 1974-76, 'An Indigenous Present' at The Frist Art Museum, TN, USA, Jun 26–Sep 27, 2026. Image courtesy of the Frist Art Museum
#KayWalkingStick @icaboston @fristartmuseum
