When the world presents only darkness, art provides a modicum of light.
It’s been a rough week—horrific, actually—and though there is no retreat from reality, there is solace. Respect and gratitude to Nicholas Galanin for the reminder that another world is not only possible but really, truly exists: We can improve ourselves if we try.
Galanin is an Alaska-dwelling artist, musician, jeweler, hunter, forager, concert promoter, homebrewer, Instagrammer and all-around righteous dude. You might remember his arresting installations from Your Feast Has Ended, last summer’s Black Constellation exhibition at the Frye; that artwork was my first introduction to Galanin’s immense talent. Late last year, under the moniker Silver Jackson, he released his first full-length album, Starry Skies Opened Eyes, a visionary sojourn through the cosmos rendered in sumtuous folk and electronic tones, shifting from sweetly-sung duets to warm ambient abstraction. (“We Drowned in Our Love” remains one of my favorite songs of 2014.)
All that to say: City Arts is very proud to premiere the first video from Starry Skies Opened Eyes. Galanin says the imagery stems from a near-death experience he had a couple years ago when he was returing home to Sitka from a hunting trip and the boat he was on crashed into a cliff. Think of “Starry Skies and Opened Eyes Pt. 2” as a projection of peace—not some nebulous concept of it but the here-and-now version we must hold in our minds and hearts if we’re gonna raise ourselves out of the mess we’ve created.
Silver Jackson performs with Kristi Lane Sinclair, OC Notes, Erik Blood and Tay Sean at the Sunset Tavern on Sunday, June 21—Summer Solstice! The longest day of the year!
