Patrick Dean Hubbell
Shi ei Diné nishł´. To'ahani' nishł´, Dibe'łizhini bashishchiin, Kinyaa'áanii dashicheii doo Honágháahnii dashinalí.
I am Diné (Navajo). My work is an exploration of my Diné and Indigenous identity and journey within the contemporary moment. The foundation of my practice is inspired by cultural methodologies, references to traditional Indigenous art and philosophy, and the abstractness of language, nature, time, and place. Incorporating a variety of mediums, including natural earth pigment collected from my Diné homelands, and two-dimensional painting and drawing mediums, my work aims to challenge the imposition of categorizations and to amplify aspects of Indigenous identity within the Western ideologies of contemporary art. The physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of my life are translated through a combination of intuitive, gestural mark-making, automatic drawing, and design. Using both elements of traditional substrate and incorporating sculptural elements of display, the two-dimensional surface format recontextualizes figurative entities within abstraction. By expanding the principles and aesthetics of the Western canon, my work seeks to redefine the visibility of the Indigenous experience.