Donna Loos: Silhouette Series

MAM is proud to present this exciting body of work produced by Missoula artist Donna Loos (Little Shell). She states of the series, "I tried to keep a blank mind and to paint unconsciously or subconsciously, or rather, to paint the negative space around a shape. I left the shape dark, and then studied the composition for awhile, looking for shapes as I would look for shapes in a summer cloud. Later I understood that I had painted my autobiography."

Loos was born in Wyoming, one of eight children of a homesteader mother and Metis father. She began teaching art in the Billings Public Schools system in the early 1960s while simultaneously carving out a reputation as a prolific and exhibiting artist. In addition to these accomplishments, Loos has held state-level positions in the Montana Art Educators Association, The Montana Institute of the Arts, and the Montana Institute of the Arts Foundation.

Donna Loos: Silhouette Series will be featured in the Lynda M. Frost Contemporary American Indian Art Gallery. This gallery is dedicated to honoring the creative cultural contributions of American Indian people to contemporary art, and to ensure that Indian artists will always have a place to celebrate that contribution.

Donna Loos passed away in 2018.