Artist Jeffrey Gibson Explores Indigenous Kinship Philosophy at the Aspen Art Museum

During his lifelong exploration of Indigenous identities, visual artist Jeffrey Gibson has created intricately beaded punching bags, applied modern geometric designs to rawhide canvases, and hung vibrant printed polyester from tepee poles. “The Spirits Are Laughing,” the latest work from the Colorado Springs–born member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, examines Indigenous kinship philosophy—“the idea of seeing the land as an extension of one’s own family or oneself,” Gibson says. Gibson invited 15 Native and non-Native color guard performers, all of whom identify as queer, to spin flags and “sing to the mountain and the sun” at the Aspen Institute this past August. Beginning November 4, the Aspen Art Museum will display a recording of the live performance, alongside Gibson’s flags and three busts he sculpted from natural materials, during a yearlong exhibit. “All living life emerged from the same place,” Gibson says, meaning that, despite our differences, we are all connected.