Meet Our New Emerging Artist Educator!

Confluence is excited to introduce our second Emerging Indigenous Artist Educator, Kitana Connelly! This is a paid internship at Confluence allowing an artist to spend time developing art and also working in classrooms with students and teachers. This year-long position is generously funded by The Roundhouse Foundation.

Read about Kitana in her own words:

Hello! I am Kitana Connelly, also known as Twahna. I am a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Oregon, as a descendant of the Molalla tribe, the Klickitat tribe, and more. I am an artist entrepreneur amplifying the spiritual lifeways of Indigenous cultures in both modern and traditional practices. I show this through paintings, portraits, and conversations focusing on healing in the community. I also offer public speaking services and art workshops on healing and creating through intuition.

In my experience as an artist, to create means to connect with something greater than myself. My co-creations are influenced by my connection to Spirit, and the land. I paint with ink because it perfectly portrays the energy movements that I capture, at times, I layer other mediums to add texture as well. I started TwahnaCreation because my connection to my culture and art was the catalyst of healing my inner tribulations and traumas, a continuous journey. This took over my life in early 2020, at the same time I also took in and began raising my little brother. That was the first time I ever painted abstractly, and I haven’t stopped since.

You can keep up with and support TwahnaCreation on Instagram at @creatortwahna.

Masi.