Sky Hopinka (b. 1984, USA) explores Indigenous culture, history, and traditional beliefs through themes of identity, memory, language, and myth. A member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño people of Southern California, he often draws inspiration from the Pacific Northwest, which holds a special place in his work, particularly as he investigates notions of homeland, personhood, and landscape.
His films reflect the complexities of contemporary Indigenous life by blending non-narrative filmmaking, poetry, and abstract imagery with an ethnopoetic approach—a response to the ethnographic gaze that has long objectified Indigenous cultures in moving images.
This new edition of Fainting Spells (2018), created specifically for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, is a three-channel short film that begins with a handwritten poem and unfolds across expansive, colorful landscapes accompanied by lyrical music. In it, Hopinka creates a dreamlike visual narrative by weaving together music, poetry, sound, color, and imagery into a unique immersive experience.
