Ka'ila Farrell-Smith

Ka'ila Farrell-Smith (born 1982) is a Native American Modoc/Klamath visual artist, environmental activist, and writer. She is a member of the Klamath Modoc tribe, Farrell-Smith is based in Modoc Point, Oregon.

Education Ka'ila Farrell-Smith received her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in painting from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland, Oregon.

Ghosts in the Machine: 019 019 is from the August 2023 series titled "Ghosts in the Machine". This series consists of twenty-seven paintings for the "Land Back" series. These paintings are made using Northern Paiute lithium topsoil, acrylics, aerosols, and graphite.

Raindance: 19/40 "Raindance" 19/40 is from the 2022 series titled “Rain Dance”. It comes from another series of prints for the Russo Lee Gallery in Portland, Oregon. These were made with monotype, screenprint, and spray paint on hand-dyed Arnhem 1618; 20 x 15 inches unframed. Since 2012 its been in the permanent collection at the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon. Curtis was a Native American Portraitist from 1900 to 1930's. This painting is also inspired by Farrell-Smith's father's experience in boarding school as a child. Similar to Curtis, The painting is also a portrait of a young indigenous girl, but her hair has been cut above the shoulders. Ka'ila Farrell-Smith, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA, 2017

Group exhibitions 2023 Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., District Of Columbia, USA When Nur Speak, Shasta County Arts Council, Redding, California, USA Inherent Memory, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

2021 Mesh, Portland Art Museum, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, USA

2020 Eartha, Adams and Ollman, Portland, Oregon, USA

Collections Farrell-Smith's work, Off the Ground. Land Back Series (2019-2021). Wild harvested pigments from Klamath land, land back stencils, aerosols, acrylic paint, oil bars and graphite on birch wood panel. 60" x 48," (2021) is held in the permanent collection of the Portland Art Museum. Her work, Vision Quest Glyphology. Oil painting, 2013. 72” x 48,” is in the collection of the Kamiak Elementary School, Pullman, Washington. Her painting Enrollment is in the permanent collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Eugene, Oregon. Farrell-Smith's work, G' EE' LA (2018) is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

Honors and awards

Hallie Ford Fellowship. Ford Family Foundation, Oregon, 2021 Fields Artist Fellowship. Oregon Humanities and Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon, 2020 Fields Artist Fellowship. Oregon Humanities and Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon, 2019 The Land Carries our Ancestors. Exhibition Book. Curated and edited by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, written contributions by Joy Harjo, heather ahtone, Shana Bushyhead Condill. National Gallery of Art, Washington in association with Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 2023.

2022 Archaeologies of Indigenous Presence. Edited by Tsim D. Schneider and Lee M. Panich. University Press of Florida, 2/15/2022. Cover Art "Alien Invasion: 1492,"Crow's Shadow five color lithograph with collaborating Master printer Judith Baumann, 30" x 22.5," 2018