Nicholas Galanin is a prominent Tlingit/Unangax̂ artist with a multidisciplinary practice. In the It Flows Through series (2022), comprising Two Heads, star map, and witness, Galanin explores the transmission of memory, identity, and cultural knowledge.

Galanin has said the following about these works: ““In the monotypes, my hand as much as Tlingit culture’s history shapes the representation. Each monotype bears the imprint of a story of its creation, not as myth, but as lived experience and through memory—the marks showing the spontaneity of a drawing with the enduring qualities of a print. The imagery is central to Tlingit life and references and mimics visual movements of a customary aesthetic. However, my contemporary interpretation forms a creative continuum that combines past with present.”

These works also resonate in connection with nature and the concept of Mother Nature in the Bardo, reflecting Indigenous understandings of interconnectedness, cycles, and the spiritual and temporal flow of life. Through imagery that aligns with natural patterns and cosmic references, Galanin situates human experience within a broader ecosystem, celebrating the ongoing relationship between people, memory, and the natural world.

Galanin’s work has been exhibited internationally at institutions and biennials including the Whitney Biennial (2019), Biennale of Sydney (2020), Desert X, Palm Springs (2021), SITE Santa Fe (2023), New York Public Art Fund (2023), and the Toronto Biennial (2024). His work is held in major collections including The Museum of Modern Art, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; Detroit Institute of Arts; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; The Phillips Collection, DC; National Gallery of Canada; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Brooklyn Museum; and Cleveland Museum of Art, among others.