Pool Formlines

A figure sits by a swimming pool with a dance paddle, projected ovoids obscuring their profile, in a cactus covered landscape far from their ancestral waters. Photographer Camille Trautman’s self-portrait appropriates Bill Holm's formlines. Formlines have come to represent Coast Salish arts and values in the popular culture, even though Holm did not consult any Indigenous people when he defined the style. Instead, he studied artifacts found in museums without cultural context from the people that created them. By re-contextualizing formlines in relation to a living Duwamish descendant, Trautman shows us that Coast Salish identity can’t be defined by any single style or space.

About Camille Trautman

Camille Trautman is a photographer and artist based in Seattle and Tucson. They are a member of the Duwamish Tribe. Camille does their best to honor their Indigenous ancestors, but grew up in the culture of the colonizers, who did their best to assimilate them.

Camille is interested in how people project their idea of landscape onto the world. They do not use traditional Duwamish mediums of cultural expression, forgetting old ways, yet their use of contemporary technical supports in their art and photography practice ensures Duwamish culture is not forgotten.

Camille participated in the 2020-2021 Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Public Art Boot Camp program, and had a temporary public art installation on display at the Seattle Center. They have also shown recently at the Whatcom Museum and were awarded the Nia Tero PNW Arts Fellowship.