WHO’S OFFENDED (2025)

(2025) WHO’S OFFENDED SOLO SHOW by EZRA DICKINSON

Opening reception July 11 @ Base Camp 2 1901 3rd AVE Seattle WA 98101 Dates July 11-Aug 22

Performances will happen on Belltown art walk evenings.

With additional happenings revealed during the opening party.

New works. Mixed media and performance. Huge works on paper, vinyl collage, ceramic sculpture, film, cardboard sculpture.

Artist statement on exhibition:

As a young child (probably 6 or 7) I remember thinking to myself that the world we are born into was damn shitty. I was surprised that the “grownups” would seemingly do so little to ensure each and everyone had what they needed to live and be happy. Growing up poor, these inequalities were all the more obvious as they would be confronted by myself or family on a daily basis. This exhibition is framed in the voice of the underserved, overlooked and the forgotten. This collection of statements stand as truths–factual alongside emotional responses–they may not be ones you want to hear or think about, but they are at the root of rot in this country and across our planet.

The works on paper come from years of creating messages for the street and public consumption. It is my intention to invite any people who have access to offer up locations for these paper works to be placed out in the streets.

The art work has been generated with the aim of recycling old materials. Scap adhesive vinyl, latex paint, cardboard, all repurposed into the works on display. The space to create over the past two years has been donated: thank you to Punk Rock Flea Market, Nii Modo, The Bemis Building, Cannonball Arts, The Muckleshoot Tribe, and Degenerate Art Ensemble.

The content of this show centers on police violence, bigotry, lack of concern for human life, greed, corruption, incarceration, and the glorification of war, amongst feelings of distress, frustration, and injustice. Who’s Offended might not be suitable for sensitive audiences (language) parental discretion is advised.

FREE THE YOUTH (2023)

(2023) cardboard sculpture, performance and film

Let me preface this by saying, youth incarceration is a mistake made by a society that has lost its ability to properly care for its youngest citizens. In my experience American incarceration aims at nothing more than to punish, no real path to rehabilitation is ever encouraged, only creating comradery between those who have similar convictions sharing how to be a better criminal upon release. I’m pretty skeptical generally of locking anyone in a box and keeping them there, its even more obvious that locking a child in a box is just another form of torture. A trauma that we as a country continue to live through the results of on a daily basis. I constructed these 88” tall, 24” wide, 10” deep cardboard letters. Made entirely from recycled cardboard, wood glue, and recycled paint. The Degenerate Art Ensemble gave me space to construct March of 2023. I then organized a small parade to transport the letters to a new space provided by Nii Modo where they could be painted. Over the next three months the letters received a paint job, and the final parade was organized and executed. Involving the community in the paradeing of these letters to their final resting location outside the youth detention center in Seattle was a very satisfying conclusion to this journey. The final stage of the parade was attended by a writer (Claude Souvenir) capturing the reactions of the public to our FREE THE YOUTH walk.

Notes on a Procession. By Claude Souvenir

Concept, build, and direction by Ezra Dickinson

Sound Composed by WIZDUMB

Edited by Doug Arney

This project made possible with support from Degenerate Art Ensemble, Punk Rock Flea Market/NII MODO, Benjamin, Anthony, Dani, Nahaan, Maia, Hannah, Jodi, Paul, Aubry, Kristen, VK, Mandy, Cash, Shawn, Kaleb, Mallory, Jeffery, Victoria, Daniel, and Alison.

Photo: Anthony Rigano

LAND BACK (2023)

(2023) Mural Indiginous resistance

The landscape of art in the northwest is complicated, and all that complication sits on the truth that this land is stolen. I am an adopted killer whale, with my Tlingit family we create to heal, we create together to teach each other, we sing and dance to heal our traditions, we connect with our ancestors through this practice. I am finding new life in learning through this, I am reckoning with my white self as I have been adopted and welcomed into indigenous culture. I am living a conflict, and it’s quite wild just as it should be.

No Human is Illegal (2022)

(2022) No Human Is Illegal Poster

My response in poster form to the constant attacks from republican politicians against innocent humans fleaing genocide, political turmoil, and climate catastrophe. Arbitrary lines drawn on the earth are nothing, borders are fake and only used to hurt those with little or no power. The future does not have borders, we live on earth. We must care for all humans, especially those facing hardship. Posters painted with acrylic paint on paper, four sections, two at 2’x3’, and two at 7’x3’. As always if you would like to commission a poster, reach out to Ezra at: ezramdickinson@gmail.com

State of emergence (2021) film

(2021) film

STATE OF EMERGENCE VIDEO

This is a short film created by Austin Wilson, produced with Overall Creative during the summer of 2020. Features John Richards, Kathleen Warren and the creation of murals by Barry Johnson and Ezra Dickinson. It is a look at the thoughts and messages behind the works, during the summer when everything was boarded up and artists began to paint in the streets.

Additionally works shown by Amaris O. Hamer, Vivid Matter Collective, Paulina Cholewinski, Crystal Barbre, Casey Weldon, Zach Rockstad, Anne Siems, Baso Fibonacci, Zach Takasawa, Robert Tardiff, Connor McPherson, Evann Strathern, Billie Avery. Music by the Polyrhythmics.

Photos Austin Wilson

AMONG US (2021)

(2021) poster

Poster painted and placed in Seattle. This work is 14’x7’. This location has been at the center of the recent ongoing protests/marches in response to the police murder of George Floyd.

During the spring and summer of 2020, protesters held an occupation of the area around the police precinct/neighborhood. The local police precinct is directly across the street. The first poster $TATE OF EMERGENCY was speaking to the crisis declared in Washington state in regards to homlessness. This new poster is speaking to the need for safe and humain sites for individuals dealing with addiction, under the supervision of care workers offering support and resources to help folks find a new path towards an addiction-free life. In a broader sense both of these posters speak to the current state of humanity as we deal with the covid pandemic.

In the constant rush of the everyday world, we may overlook the hardship that we as a society have endured not just for the last two years but more so as a way of life. The expectation that the act of living, keeping a roof over your head, feeding yourself, healthcare, education, all are things we must work to have. If you don’t want to, or for one reason or another you can’t, what are your options? How do we care for one another? How do we take care of our own mental health? I’m constantly asking myself these questions.

Kaaseiyi (2021)

(2021) woodwork canoe

This canoe is named Kaaseiyi, meaning voice of man. The canoe is named after Nahaan’s father Roger Alexander. Roger was Kaigani Haida, from double headed eagle, frog, beaver clan. From Hydaburg AK. Traditionally in native culture mostly men build canoes, and traditionally in western culture boats are given the gender of female. With Kaaseiyi, Nahaan intentionally separates this act of love and remembrance from western practise and expectations, and firmly sets this gift as a gift of not only memory but of tradition and cultural responsibility. A vessel for learning and growing family, through songs, protocol, and leadership.

I was asked by Nahaan if I could help build Kaaseiyi after the cedar strips had been formed and set into their place to make the dugout canoe shape. We began by prepping for delivery to the fiberglasser. After fiberglass had been applied both inside and out, we sanded it down to a smooth state. We landed at our first generous work space offering at the Museum of Museums (MoM) in Seattle. While at MoM, we cut the rough shapes for the in and out wales, and the bow and stern top pieces. We steam bent the in and out wales and attached them. Then it was time to move to our next generous work space offering provided by Vermillion Art Gallery also in Seattle. While at Vermillion, we steam bent the rails that sit on top of the in and out wales, steam bent and attached the risers that the seats rest on, and we cut and fitted four seats. At this point we began to clean, shape and refine the overall body.

Each work session would start with sage, and at the end of the work day, songs would be sung to Kaaseiyi. Our last step was painting, starting with primer, sanding, primer, sanding, and probably a little more primer once the surface was as smooth as we thought we could get it. Then we started adding color, and delineating shapes. The shape that the black makes on the outside is referencing the belly of the killer whale. Many more coats of marine grade paint, a little wax, and we were ready to have a naming ceremony and launch.

On a perfectly beautiful overcast rainy Sunday afternoon at Golden Gardens, we formally named the canoe Kaaseiyi. A representative from the Duwamish Tribe attended and gave us permission to launch, have a safe journey, and come back again soon. We loaded up seven deep, and pushed off into the water, watching as the small crowd of attendees sang us songs and danced on the beach. The sea lions and eagles were circling and watching us as we pulled our way around the buoy and back to the beach.

What a gift to help my best friend build this boat, we both built this with no prior experience in building a canoe. We could not have done this without the guidance of master canoe builders, Wayne Price, Beau Wagner, Dale Bekkela, Joe Martin, Al Charles, and Stormy Hamar from up the coast to Canada and AK. The reverence for the craft of building a vessel that holds human life in the water is a profound learning lesson. I’m thankful to have been given the chance to share in this truly amazing process.

NAMING CEREMONY

After the completion of building Kaaseiyi, a few months later we began the formline design covering the outside of Kaaseiyi. First Nahaan sketched out the design on the left side, then I copied the design to the right side. Then we spent time redrawing and refining the formline design. Helping hands started to add the colors, three coats of paint later Kaaseiyi had his decoration.

Stories (2020-present)

Stories from the Streets or Being Seen (working titles) (2020-present)

This is the seed project for what will become a much larger, interactive, citywide performance experience. To begin, I have been awarded funding from 4Culture to collect interviews from people living on the street experiencing homelessness. My aim is to find individuals who would like to talk with me about their experience living on the street. I have found myself gravitating to these folks for two reasons: 1) My mother lived on the street for a period of time after I began living on my own, and before she ultimately was committed to Western State hospital; and 2) I can’t help but see a clear correlation between out of control rental prices and the rapid increase in the homeless population in the northwest.

Through this funding I will compensate the individuals interviewed. I want to collect these interviews and geo tag the locations where the interviewees are living. In Seattle currently the people living on the street are routinely dislocated or swept from their established homes on the street, a practise that is both inhumane and, given that we are still in the grips of a worldwide pandemic, is all the more absurd an action to be taken against an already extremely vulnerable population.

Once I have collected as many interviews as funding will allow for, I will create a website which houses all of these stories and cross references each one with a QR code that will be placed at the location of past residence for each individual I interview. This will create both a visual link to the inhabitants that occupied these street homes–prior to being displaced yet again–and determine a walking tour through Seattle that someone could follow to see these stories activated from one QR code to the next.

This first step will lay the groundwork for the larger piece. I will endeavor to fill in the path that is created from these stories with installation, both site specific and gallery. There will be sound that will accompany the viewer through this journey. There will be pre recorded performance that lives as a sort of ghost along this path. All this will come together to create a walking tour that can be entered at any point, at any time.

T-Shirts (2020-present)

Wear your support for an open dialogue on RENT CONTROL in Washington State.

Proceeds from sales of these t-shirts go to support Sawhorse Revolution. Check out the link and learn about the wonderful programs they foster benefiting youth and the homeless in our region.

Two color WE DESERVE RENT CONTROL silkscreen (black t-shirt) and three color RENT CONTROL silkscreen (white t-shirt). Both designs are printed on a soft cotton shirt, currently only available in colors shown.

If you would like to arange an in Seattle hand off email requests to: ezramdickinson@gmail.com

Walk with us (2020)

(2020) painted banner

I felt compelled to respond to the conflicts between Black Lives Matters marchers and the violent provocations of the police. Inspired by seeing a few police officers in different cities choosing to walk with demonstrators as they marched. I aimed to tell Seattle Police officers to embrace the community and its vulnerabilities, stand up for the underserved, walk with us and choose to hear the voices of the people.

Category: Activism