Ahchipaptunhe
Working at the intersection of geometric abstraction, modernism, and indigenous visual narratives. Through rigorous formal investigation, the work reclaims geometric language as an inherently Native practice, positioning Indigenous artistic traditions as parallel sophistications to, rather than primitive precedents of, modernist abstraction
Selected Works
A series exploring the relationship between Native geometric traditions, history painting, and contemporary abstraction.
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Cultural Preservation
2023 • Acrylic on canvas
This work utilizes form as a method of recording directions for the traditional ceremony known as the Big House Ceremony.
Fragments of Memory and Land
2026 • Mixed media on paper
Confronts concepts of permanence and temporal, and living in an ever changing landscape.
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Living Dialogue of Native Beliefs
2025 • Wood, Acrylic, and acrylic on canvas
Where spirit takes shape, the unseen becomes tangible, and the viewer is invited into a profound act of reflection.
Expression of Native Heritage
2025 • Oil on canvas
Painting as an act of preservation and reverence, honoring ancestral connections while carrying their living presence into the future.
Woven Presence
2026 • Mixed media on paper
A tactile meditation of fiber and thought intertwine, grounding spirit in the physical act of creation and anchoring into the present.
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A living dialogue of Native beliefs
2022 • Oil on canvas
An immersive exploration of nonobjective form and remembered landscape, where lived experience dissolves into color and gesture and the essence of living emerges beyond representation.
Bio
An enrolled member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians and the Cherokee Nation, Ahchipaptunhe is a contemporary painter whose work bridges ancestral knowledge and modern form. Beginning their artistic practice in 2019, they approach painting as both cultural preservation and visual sovereignty—using abstraction and history painting to sustain Native language, traditions, and lineage through material expression.
With studies grounded in design, color theory, form relations, and art history, their work reflects a deep engagement with structural harmony and spatial dialogue. Influenced by visionaries such as Antoni Gaudí, Henri Matisse, David Lee Smith, Leon Polk Smith, Josef Albers, Hans Hofmann, and Kazimir Malevich, their practice synthesizes modernism and nonobjective art with what they describe as Native-suprematism—a re-centering of Indigenous cosmology within contemporary abstraction.
Through layered color fields, gestural movement, and symbolic spatial relationships, Ahchipaptunhe creates immersive works that act as living archives—where memory, land, and lived experience converge beyond representation.
Education
Pratt Institute, BID 2019 | Minor History of Art and Design | Summa cum laude
Johnson College, AAS 2012 | Summa cum laude
Military Aircraft Paint and Marking, 2009
DINFOS Navy Photojournalism, 2001
Exhibitions
2026 Modern Messages | Scottsdale Civic Center & Lib, AZ
2025 Where Have All the Flowers Gone | New School, Manhattan NY
2025 Icons | Aurelia Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2025 Abstract Exhibit | Herberger Art Galleries, Phoenix, AZ
2025 Cherokee Homecoming | Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, OK
2025 Chill Pill | Five15 Arts, Phoenix, AZ
2025 Lenapehoking | Gracie Mansion, New York, NY
2024 Landback | Tiny Gallery, Montclair, NJ
2024 No Feathers No Promises | ASU ArtSpace West, Phoenix, AZ
2024 Skateboard Deck Show | Trans AM cafe, Phoenix, AZ
2024 Stick Together| Scottsdale Community Center, Scottsdale, AZ
2024 Summer Stock | Five15 Arts, Phoenix, AZ
2023 Native Veterans Art Exhibition | ASU ArtSpace West, Phoenix, AZ
2023 Never Broken | Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA
2023 TOTAS: Trail of Tears Art Show | Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, OK
2023 Color Love | Scottsdale Community Center, Scottsdale, AZ
2022 TOTAS: Trail of Tears Art Show | Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, OK
2022 FOUND:RE 22nd Annual Juried Exhibition | FOUND:RE, Phoenix, AZ
2022 ASU Community Art Show | ASU Downtown Campus, Phoenix, AZ
2022 First: Native American Artist of Arizona | Scottsdale Community Center, AZ
2022 Portland on the Park Cycle 10 | Portland on the Park, Phoenix, AZ
2022 INFLUX | City of Tempe, Tempe, AZ
2022 Homecoming | Brooklyn Public Library Gravesend Branch, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Portland on the Park Cycle 8 | Portland on the Park, Phoenix, AZ
2021 Ahchipaptunhe | Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ
2021 City Island NYC: Storytelling Festival | City Island, NY
2020 Mayo Clinic Group Show | Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ
2020 Archipelagos of the Creative Mine | Pratt Library, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Franklin Residence Gallery Group Show| Franklin Residence Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Artist Talks and Lectures
2024 Visiting: Columbia Teachers College, New York, NY
2023 Visiting: Never Broken Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA
2022 Virtual: Lenapehoking: Brooklyn Library, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Virtual: Native Artists, Northeast Futures, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
Community Engagements
2026 Scottsdale Library Artist Demonstration, AZ
2026 Futures Highschool Artist Demonstration, Scottsdale
2026 Boys and Girls Club Artist Demonstration, Scottsdale, AZ
2025 Heard Museum Artist Demonstration
2024 Heard Museum Artist Demonstration
2023 Art Uncorked | Montclair Art Museum Gala and Silent Auction
2023 Art advisor for the City of Tempe’s Firehouse Art Project| Tempe, AZ
2022 Art Uncorked | Montclair Art Museum Gala and Silent Auction
Additional Professional Experiences
2022 - 2023 Exhibit Designer | Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, AZ
2020 - 2022 Arts Program Specialist | Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ
2012 - 2015 Commercial Construction | VA Hospital Bronx, NY
2000 - 2010 United States Navy
Publications
Never Broken: Visualizing Lenape Histories – January 23, 2024
by Joe Baker (Editor), Laura Igoe (Editor)
ISBN 978-1-879636-16-3
Lenapehoking: An Anthology – 2022
by Joe Baker (Editor), Hadrien Coumans (Editor) & Joel Whitney (Editor)
ISBN 978-1-946604-21-7
