Artist Jeffrey Gibson Illuminates Native American Culture For Dior Lady Art Bags
In an exclusive interview with FEMALE, artist Jeffrey Gibson showcases how his works for the latest Dior Lady Art collaboration create a rainbow connection between fashion and art.
Inclusivity has become an increasingly hot topic in the art world, but for the acclaimed Brooklyn-based artist Jeffrey Gibson, it’s defined his whole repertoire. As a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, he integrates elements of Native American culture (alongside influences from music, fashion, and club and queer cultures) into his kaleidoscopic, craft-intensive pop art-inflected works that span paintings to sculptures.
Coupled with a proclivity for collaborations (be it with craftsmen, other artists and even the public), he aims not just for minority empowerment, but also for art to help build a sense of community for all identities. His latest partnership is on shelves now: two renditions of the Lady Dior bag that are part of the annual Dior Lady Art initiative by Dior and carried at its Ion Orchard boutique. Here, he gives us an exclusive interview on how his work – and his bags – bring together many.
Describe your artistic universe in just a few words.
“Colour, pattern, density – a mash up that opens up space for differences to coexist”
When and how did you decide to become an artist?
“I have always been an artist since I was a young child. My parents always handed me crayons and I drew pictures from my imagination and copied artworks that I saw in books.”
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What do you consider your most emblematic works?
“Probably the adorned punching bags (started in 2011 as a way for Gibson to cope with the anger he felt from his encounters with homophobia and racism, this series features the gym accessory vibrantly made over with intricate beadwork and other embellishments laid out in traditional Native American textile patterns, as well as phrases of affirmation from pop culture). People relate to them in very personal ways that reflect their own personal narrative.”
Into its eighth edition, the Dior Lady Art programme by Dior gives established artists from around the world carte blanche to reinterpret the brand’s iconic Lady Dior handbag and transform it into a work of art. Among the 12 powerhouse names invited to participate this year is the spirited Jeffrey Gibson, who’s known for combining imageries, handicraft techniques and other aspects of his Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee heritage with pop cultural influences to create a wide-spanning range of work that explores the themes of identity, minority representation and belonging. He makes for a good choice: Come April, the Colorado-born, Brooklyn-based artist will become the first indigenous artist to stage a solo exhibition in the US pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
What values do you want to express as an artist?
“Always radical inclusivity. This means that I want absolutely everybody to feel welcome to contribute respectfully towards establishing collectively meaningful ways forward for all people, and to encourage empathy, humanity and compassion. I look to the past and present for examples of ways in which people have done so, and there are incredible and brilliant people doing amazing things in the world that can help us to develop strategies for a better, more sustainable and equitable future.”
As someone who’s also into fashion, what does the house of Dior represent to you?
“Dior represents an iconic legacy of progressive thinking in fashion.”
How did this Dior Lady Art collaboration unfold?
“Dior had reached out to the Roberts Projects gallery (the Los Angeles-based contemporary art gallery that’s been representing Gibson since 2016) and asked if I would be interested in redesigning the Lady Dior bag. I was immediately interested and spent some time thinking about how to represent me and my artwork as a handbag. The adorned punching bags and various beadwork techniques (many of which draw from indigenous artisanal handicraft) form significant parts of my practice, and made the most sense to look to for inspiration, and meeting the Dior design team was such an exciting experience. Everyone understood my initial designs and had fun experimenting with different beading techniques and materials, while making sure the results remain true to my original vision.”
What do you like most about the Lady Dior bag, which is an iconic emblem of Dior?
“I like the simplicity of its classic design. It’s not overly fussy and is a combination of minimal adornment on a structured form.”
Tell us more about how you’ve reinterpreted the Lady Dior. What were your sources of inspiration and what do these new Lady Dior bags symbolise for you? (Gibson created a total of two.)
“The final results are a mashup of beadwork techniques used in my studio, text, bright coloured leather, sports fabrics, and a nod to some ’60s and ’70s mod and disco aesthetics. The new Lady Dior bags that I’ve created symbolise me and all of my background story. Their brightly coloured beadwork is drawn from both my own practice as well as historic native American beadwork. Meanwhile the text on one of the bags (“I can do whatever I choose”) is about giving oneself permission to be him or herself unabashedly in a world where we are too often told who we are and how we should be.”
With his love for fashion and artisanal craft, the acclaimed mixed media artist Jeffrey Gibson makes a fitting choice for Dior’s Lady Dior Art initiative. One of his renditions of the Lady Dior features his signature beadwork – intricate, vividly hued and entirely hand done in a pattern influenced by that found on indigenous textiles.
Which kinds of savoir-faire and materials did you highlight in this Dior Lady Art collaboration?
“Beadwork and texture play big roles in both bags. The beads are made of glass and plastic; come in varying sizes; and accentuated with neoprene and sports mesh. Each bag is also topped with chunky rhinestone handles.”
What do you think makes these creations special?
“For me, it’s that Dior did not hold back and pushed the final designs further than I would have on my own. The results are very polished camp yet still possess meaning.”
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Tell us more about your relationship with fashion?
“I have looked at fashion since I was a teenager. I am a big fan of DIY fashion: from punk to drag – any styles through which people express themselves and show the confidence to stand out. I also look at historic cultural garments and fashion to see how makers and designers have used materials, and create sculptural shapes using textiles.”
What does a project like Dior Lady Art represent for you?
“A project like Dior Lady Art represents a fun opportunity to join another historic canon of creative makers as my multifaceted self.”
This article first appeared in the Jan/Feb 2024 Art Edition of FEMALE