SYDNEY DEROIN
[BFA] painting
I create oil paintings on canvas and panels that express my identity as a Native Woman of the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. I explore aspects of the violent history between Indigenous Tribes and the Church as well as the destructive results of Colonialism. My paintings mainly use complementary colors such as blue and orange to create vibrant and bold imagery meant to capture viewers’ attention. My work typically focuses on portraiture with graphic lines and contrasting edge work. In this series, I invoke scenic and narrative subjects from southwestern and “cowboy” imagery to question the authority of that mythos. I aim to critique the effects the Christian Church had and still has on Native Americans, specifically focusing on the death and abuse that occurred in boarding schools across North America. My paintings are an expression of anger and grief, but also pride for who I am and where I come from. My goal with my paintings is to show how Indigenous artists don’t have to follow a certain visual look; Native Art is contemporary art.
Sydney DeRoin is a Nebraska-based artist, originally from St. Joseph, Missouri, enrolled in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln pursuing her BFA in Studio Arts with an option in Painting. Her tribal affiliation is a major part of her artwork as she explores and expresses her identity through her paintings. Sydney has been the recipient of the Regents Scholarship, Olive LaBounty Fund Scholarship, Myers B. and Martha H. Cather Scholarship, Jeanne Trabold Scholarship, and the Hills Art Scholarship. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, as well as the Eisentrager-Howard and Medici Galleries on the UNL Campus. She also has gallery management and curatorial experience through two semesters with the Eisentrager-Howard and Medici Gallery Management classes as well as museum experience with the Sheldon Museum of Art as a Student Ambassador.
Sydney DeRoin
Kill the Indian, Save the Man
Oil on Canvas Wrapped Panel
2025
Sydney DeRoin
Manifest Destiny
Oil on Canvas
2024
Sydney DeRoin
What We Were Given
Oil on Canvas (Diptych)
2025
Sydney DeRoin
What We Were Given
Oil on Canvas (Diptych)
2025
Sydney DeRoin
Why Are You Here?
Oil on Canvas (Diptych)
2024
Sydney DeRoin
Why Are You Here?
Oil on Canvas (Diptych)
2024