Image: Remai Modern, Saskatoon
Dyani White Hawk’s ‘Love Language’, a 15-year survey of the Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist’s work, is entering its final month at Remai Modern in Saskatoon. The exhibition, which opened on April 25, brings together multimedia paintings, sculpture, video and other works in the museum’s Marquee Gallery through October 4, 2026.
Organized by Remai Modern and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the exhibition is curated by Tarah Hogue, Remai Modern’s adjunct curator of Indigenous art, and Siri Engberg, senior curator and director of visual arts at the Walker, with Brandon Eng, the Walker’s curatorial assistant for visual arts. Lead support comes from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, with additional support from the Canada Council for the Arts and other listed supporters.
White Hawk’s practice is rooted in intergenerational knowledge and centres on connections between people, past and present, and earth and sky. By foregrounding Lakota forms and motifs, ‘Love Language’ examines prevailing histories and practices surrounding abstract art while placing Indigenous teachings and visual systems at the centre of the exhibition.
The survey is arranged in four sections named by the artist: ‘See’, ‘Honour’, ‘Nurture’ and ‘Celebrate’. The opening section introduces White Hawk’s worldview through early works combining quillwork, beadwork and painting. These pieces consider elements of her Sičáŋǧu Lakota and European American ancestries, examining and reassembling them while establishing the exhibition’s focus on identity, knowledge and relation.
‘Honour’ and ‘Nurture’ turn toward family, ancestors and community. White Hawk’s ‘Quiet Strength’ series references Lakota quillwork in large abstract paintings and honours the labour of Indigenous women. The multichannel video installation ‘LISTEN’ (2020–ongoing) features contemporary Indigenous women speaking in their Native languages on their homelands. Also included is ‘I Am Your Relative’ (2020), a collaboration with Ho-Chunk photographer Tom Jones consisting of life-size photographic portraits whose text rejects the reduction of Indigenous people to desire, fantasy or mascot imagery.
The final section, ‘Celebrate’, combines traditional techniques with an expanded scale. It includes a series of glass mosaics, beaded sculptures and White Hawk’s monumental ‘Wopila | Lineage’ painting, made in collaboration with a team of studio beadworkers. The exhibition’s presentation also includes interpretive materials, educational resources and a lounge area with cushions and blankets designed by the artist, encouraging visitors to engage with the galleries as a community space.
White Hawk was born in 1976, and her work in the survey addresses both Lakota forms and teachings and issues including settler colonialism and oppression. ‘Love Language’ remains on view at Remai Modern’s Marquee Gallery in Saskatoon until October 4, 2026.
