Grace Rosario Perkins

Grace Rosario Perkins (b. 1986) is a multidisciplinary artist whose works explore the intersections of her Native American, queer and gender identities. She currently lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although she is primarily a painter, Perkins also creates in other mediums, including video installations and masks. Perkins has been nominated for a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art Award, a United States Arts Fellowship, As well as her solo work, Perkins is a member of the Black Salt Collective.

Early life and education Perkins was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1986. Her mother is Diné, and her father is Akimel O’odham from the Gila River Indian Community. Perkins was raised in Oakland, around the Gila River, and in the Navajo Nation. before studying Art History at Mills College at Northeastern University, in Oakland.

Career

Artistic practice There was a comic book store beside Perkins’s high school, and she was inspired by the books she read there to make art for herself. About the incorporation of Navajo in her work, Perkins has said that non-Native American people are "unwilling ‘to go deeper to get it.’"

Additionally, Perkins has presented on a number of panels, both on her own and as a member of the Black Salt Collective. In 2017, Perkins was invited to be a part of a conference called, "CROSSROADS: ART + NATIVE FEMINISMS", at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City. Perkins’s panel was titled, "The Problematics of Making Art While Native and Female."

Residencies In 2017, Perkins was granted an artist’s residency at Artists’ Cooperative Residency & Exhibitions (ACRE), which is designed specifically for new and emerging artists. Perkins has also been in residence at White Leaves, the Sedona Summer Colony, and Varda Artists’ Residency. Additionally, from 2018 to 2019, Perkins was the Print Public Artist-in-Residence at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California. The residency is focused on the role of public art in city planning. As a part of this residency, Perkins produced Sight Sound (2019), an acrylic and spray paint work that is currently housed at the Kala Art Institute.

Exhibitions

2014: Thin Leather Perkins and her father, Olen Perkins, collaborated on 20 paintings for their exhibit, Thin Leather. Their collaborative practice was as follows: Perkins mailed her father an artwork, he added to the canvas, sent it back, and the process continued until they decided the painting was finished. Running Towards the Sun has also been displayed at the Jack Barrett (formerly 315 Gallery) in New York City.

2019: Foucault on Acid Perkins’s work was displayed as part of the Foucault on Acid exhibit at the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles.

2 April - 16 October 2022: The Relevance of Your Data Perkins’s first individual show, The Relevance of Your Data, was mounted at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Tucson, Arizona. The Relevance of Your Data included 8 paintings made specifically for this exhibition, including the mixed-media work, Mom Jokes to Make Her Hair Curly Like a Sheep (2022). The exhibition addressed the collection of personal data and the harms that this practice imposes on people of colour, in particular. Perkins’s practice is highly collaborative, and she is known for sharing the arts spaces she is offered with other artists of colour. For this exhibition, Perkins invited contributions from Lonnie Holley, Fox Maxy, Eric-Paul Riege, and her father, Olen Perkins.

10 September - 29 October 2022: Hermit's Lamp Perkins’s second individual show, Hermit’s Lamp, was exhibited at Cushion Works in San Francisco. The show included 7 new works, including Cheii Knew We Were in the White World (2022) and Forgiveness (2022). These works exemplify Perkins’s DIY style. Forgiveness, for example, includes found objects like a bumper sticker and bingo cards. Similarly, Cheii Knew We Were in the White World incorporates a family photo of Perkins and her cousins, as well as a necklace that says, "Girls".

In print Perkins released her debut book of paintings, Five Fingered Being, in 2018. Perkins also contributed to the 2018 collection, Demand Utopian Sports.

Work as part of the Black Salt Collective The Black Salt Collective was formed in 2012 as an all-queer, all-BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) group. Its members include Perkins, Adee Roberson, Sarah Biscarra-Dilley, and Anna Luisa Petrisko. Founding member Fanciulla Gentile has left the group. This show demonstrated how creative, collaborative pursuits help the artists navigate settler colonialism.