Weekly We Make: Paper Cutouts
JAUNE QUICK-TO-SEE SMITH, Paperdolls for a Post-Colombian World, 2021 Acrylic, amber shellac, aluminum, paper, and wood, Gochman Family Collection.
About the Weekly We Make Activity
Inspired by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s artwork, which can be viewed in the exhibition, Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969, on display at the MacKenzie Art Gallery from 23 May to 21 September 2025, draw a cutout of yourself. Build a collection of cutout clothing that references your closet, experiences, or culture.
This workshop is led by one of our amazing Gallery Educators.
About Weekly We Make
It’s an art party! Weekly We Make at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, presented by Canada Life, is an opportunity for individuals and families to drop in and create artwork.
Learn about the artists and artworks in MacKenzie’s Permanent Collection and featured exhibitions with weekly in-person hands-on workshops that can be modified for all ages. Visit our studio to make art with Gallery Educators and guest artists, exploring new and beloved techniques and art materials.
There is no cost to attend these drop-in sessions. All materials are provided.
The Artwork that Inspired Us
“This story that I’ve woven together is a true story. It’s about my family, but it’s also about other Native families in this country and Canada.
My name is Jaune Quick-to-see Smith. The title of this work is Paper Dolls for a Post-Columbian World (With Ensembles Contributed by the U.S. Government).
These paper dolls represent this overview of the genocide of Native people, beginning when Europeans hit our shores—killing, pillaging, pushing people out of their homelands. But genocide is composed of a whole list of things. Every single piece in this work has a story that fits this genocidal program…
My aim is always making a teaching moment from something that I feel we don’t learn in school. And I think my paper dolls offer the viewer a moment to do some critical thinking.”
—Jaune Quick-to-see-smith (source: moma.org.)
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (1940 to 2025) is an artist and citizen from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation in Montana. She is known for creating work that addressed the myths of her ancestors and current issues facing Native Americans.
Raised on the Flathead Reservation, Smith remained deeply connected to her heritage while learning about the work of artists like Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Robert Rauschenberg, and traditional Native American artists during her studies at Framingham State College, and the University of New Mexico.
Smith is known for her unique ways of working with paint, collage, and imagery. With a combination of representational and abstract images, she explores subjects such as the destruction of the environment, governmental oppression of Indigenous cultures.
Installation image from Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969, June 24 – November 26, 2023. Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. Photo: Olympia Shannon, 2023.Artwork pictured: JAUNE QUICK-TO-SEE SMITH, Paperdolls for a Post-Colombian World, 2021, Acrylic, amber shellac, aluminum, paper, and wood, Gochman Family Collection.
Studio Activity
Inspired by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s artworks, draw a cutout of yourself. Build a collection of cutout clothing that references your closet, experiences, or culture.
MATERIALS
- Thick paper
- Markers/crayons/pencil crayons
- Scissors
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
Try to capture your look as accurately as you can.
Step 2
Design assorted clothing for your personal cutout. Ideas to include:
- Different hairstyles
- Your favourite t-shirt
- Your extra-curricular uniform (sports, band, cadets, etc.)
- Your favourite shoes
Step 3
Now, begin placing your clothing on top of your cutout.
Step 4
Another thing that Jaune Quick-to-see Smith explores in her work is the exchange of ideas and how images travel amongst communities. How do we influence others around us? Take some time to trade a piece of clothing with someone you may not know. Does the clothing fit? How do we think about ideas of appropriation versus collaboration?
Step 5
Keep your cutout and hang it somewhere you will see it often, like your locker. When you see it, consider the exercise we have just accomplished. When you see yourself, what is the difference? What is the same? Now that you’ve imagined yourself in another person’s shoes, would you make a different choice in clothing?
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
- How can art help us remember, understand, and connect with history?
- These painted dolls allow us to think about the ways that culture is shared and sometimes forgotten and how that can be expressed through what we wear. How do you express your culture through what you wear? How does that change based on who you interact with or where you are?
- What is the significance of the Indigenous identity explored in Jaune’s work? Does it make you think differently about your own identity?
IMPORTANT WORDS
- Identity: a person’s personality and how they choose to express themselves with their family, friends and communities.
- Appropriation: taking other people’s cultural objects and using them for personal promotion or profit.
