Rocky Boy in High Resolution: My Path as a Chippewa Cree Graphic Designer
with Kaylene Bigknife
January 14, 12-1, a virtual gathering
Topic Description:
Join Chippewa Cree artist, Kaylene Big Knife, as she shares her story and passion for graphic design and digital illustration. With a creative career spanning 15+ years, Big Knife will share topics including her top five favorite design projects, most-used design tools, her design process, digital art in language revitalization, and other design-related insights. Throughout her creative projects, Big Knife threads the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation landscape, Chippewa Cree stories, the Cree language, and Chippewa (Ojibwe) blossoms. Using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, she illustrates in her signature style: bold, precise linework, seamless patterns and gradients, and vibrant color palettes. A short Q&A session will follow the main presentation.
About the Artist:
Kaylene J. Big Knife is a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe from the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in north-central Montana. Currently, she serves as the Marketing Associate Director at the Intertribal Agriculture Council, where she specializes in branding, digital marketing, print design, and merchandise design.
Big Knife received an associate’s degree in Interactive Graphic Design from the Institute of American Indian Arts, a bachelor’s degree in Native American Studies from the University of Montana – Missoula, and a master’s degree in Native American Languages and Linguistics from the University of Arizona. Her portfolio of clients includes Xbox, PBS, Buffalo Jump Records, Young Spirit, Fawn Wood, Sullivan Squad, Northern Cree, American Indian Language Development Institute, Indigenous Comic Con (now known as IndigiPop X), C.M. Russell Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, and the Nike N7 collaboration with the University of Montana – Missoula. Outside of professional design projects, Big Knife enjoys learning the Cree language, reading and collecting books by American Indian authors, playing video games, writing fiction, and crafting with my cat assistant, Calcifer Big Knife the tabby cat.
Register Here for the online event: https://form.jotform.com/252436280155050
Upon registration, a meeting link will be sent to you.
Indigenous Art, Indigenous Minds is a project of Open AIR’s Indigenous Initiatives Committee, established to elevate Indigenous Leadership and creative practices in Montana and beyond. All presentations are available on Open AIR’s YouTube Channel.
The Indigenous Art, Indigenous Minds Speaker Series is a project of Open AIR’s Indigenous Initiatives Committee, established to elevate Indigenous Leadership and creative practices in Montana and beyond. All presentations are available on Open AIR’s YouTube Channel.