I Am a Line of Words: Drawing Identity Across Cultures Diné, Pima, and Italian Visual Languages

This exhibition features 14 selected works (7 Italian-themed, 7 Indigenous-themed) that explore the intersections of cultural identity through visual storytelling.

Siamo solo noi, Vasco Rossi

Charcoal on paper, 9" x 12"

Depiction of Vasco Rossi's iconic album Siamo solo noi, released in 1981. Commissioned by Dr. Enrico Minardi to accompany his publication "L'esperienza del rock Vasco Rossi."

L'oscurità - The Basilico Triptych

Charcoal on paper, stitched together, 24" x 27" (complete work)

Renowned Italian photographer Gabriele Basilico (1944-2013) was famous for black and white urban landscape photography. After viewing his photo archive, Keeto rearranged three photographs into a narrative questioning: Where are they going? What awaits in the darkness? A sense of isolation and emptiness pervades.

La dolce vita - Marcello Mastroianni e Anita Ekberg alla Fontana di Trevi

Charcoal on Drawing Paper, 18" x 24"

Federico Fellini's 1960 film remains a symbol of the golden age of Italian cinema. The dreamscape scene depicts Marcello in an elegant black suit and Sylvia (Anita Ekberg) in a long, black, strapless dress at the Trevi Fountain. La dolce vita explores the emptiness and aimlessness that remains when fleeting flirtations have passed.

Canto XIII

Ink, gold leaf, 11" x 17"

From Dante Alighieri's Inferno (The Divine Comedy), Canto XIII depicts the Forest of Suicides, examining violence against the self. Souls who desecrated the sacred unity of body and soul are metamorphosed into trees, damned to be forever consumed by harpies.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze holding Apple of Eden & Staff of Eden

Oil on canvas, 12" x 16"

A homage to Assassin's Creed II, which inspired the artist's decision to learn Italian and specialize in Renaissance Art. The game takes place during the Renaissance, following Ezio Auditore (1459-1524), a Florentine nobleman whose family was executed for treason, leading him to seek revenge against Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, the head of the Templar Order.

Karen Mulder & Stephanie Seymour on the Versace Runway, 1996

Ink & watercolor, 17" x 22"

Depicts the iconic Italian fashion house Versace. 1996 was a significant year before Gianni Versace's 1997 murder, representing Italian influence on global fashion.

Still Life of a Moka Pot

Oil on canvas panel, 14" x 18"

A reflection on Italian coffee culture learned during the artist's studies. As Keeto notes: "If there's anything I learned while a student learning Italian, it's that Italians love their coffee."

Akimel O'odham (Pima) woven basket with lid

Close coiled on a cattail bundle with willow and devil's claw sewing elements, 4½" x 9½" x 6½" (h x l x w)

Basketry predates clay pottery and remains the earliest containers utilized in the West. This basket was passed down from generation to generation, from the artist's great-grandmother to her father, then to Keeto and her sister.

Yeibichai, by William "Wild Bill" Notah, Sr.

Mixed media, 26" x 41"

Created by the artist's grandfather. The Yeibichai are beings that created the Diné and taught them how to live in harmony with the universe. They represent the interconnectedness of the natural world and the spirit realm, often part of The Nightway healing ceremony conducted by medicine men.

Keeping Oral Tradition Alive – Passing on Traditional Cultural Knowledge in the Harvesting of Kwa-vul (Wolfberry), c. 2014

Photographic print, 12" x 12", 8" x 10"

Photographed by Elaine Blackwater, the artist's grandmother. This image depicts the photographer's twin granddaughters, Ryssa and Mirra Keeto, learning about harvesting Kwa-vul, a desert plant. As Blackwater writes, this commemorates "sharing the stories from what I learned as a child centering around this plant through photography."

Pima Indian Legends by Anna Moore Shaw

Book, 5.25" x 0.4" x 7.5"

Written by Anna Moore Shaw, a Pima author and the great-great grandmother of Mirra Keeto. Shaw started writing to preserve traditional stories and culture in 1930. Published by the University of Arizona in 1968. Keeto recalls: "Growing up at my Dad's house, we had her two books framed on our wall. My Dad's favorite myth was 'The Rattlesnake Receives His Fangs.'"

Hastiin To'Haali (Tom Torlino) Before and After, 1882-85

Oil on Canvas, charcoal, 12" x 16"

Depicts before and after portraits taken by John N. Choate of a Diné student, Hastiin To'Haali (Tom Torlino), after his time at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. To'Haali arrived at 22 years of age and made attempts to run away, leaving permanently at 26. Carlisle was a federally funded boarding school dedicated to the forced assimilation of young Indigenous children, part of the resolution to the "Indian Question."

Ira H. Hayes

Acrylic and screen print on bristol, 11" x 17"

Ira H. Hayes was an Akimel O'odham (Pima) Marine during World War II, born in Sacaton, Arizona in 1923. An enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1942 and served in Bougainville and most notably, Iwo Jima.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima Four Times after Joe Rosenthhal

Acrylic and screen print on bristol, 22" x 17"

Hayes was one of six men photographed in the iconic second shot of Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthall in 1945, an image that became widely known and reproduced. After the war, Hayes suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder that led to dependency on alcohol. In 1955, he passed away due to alcohol poisoning. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.