Mayor David Holt regularly posts pictures on social media from his office, standing in front of a striking painting of a buffalo. “Grand Buffalo,” by Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Master Artist dg smalling, was the first Native American art to be displayed at the OKC Mayor’s office, and features smalling’s signature style: an image created by a single, continuous line.
Though smalling has made a name for himself in the art world because of this one-line drawing technique, over the last five years he has begun to focus more on creating, designing and making a place in the Native American community. His passion lies in cultural collaboration through furniture, tiles, art and even software.
Though tribal casinos make over an estimated $40 billion a year, smalling is the only fine artist to work directly in the industry. “I design for Gary Platt Manufacturing, who created casino furniture as we know it,” smalling said. From his signature style of art on the back of the chair to noticing how people will sit at a casino, every element is considered when designing these pieces.
It’s an industry of which he speaks highly: “Indian gaming makes up over half of the U.S. market, and Oklahoma is the fourth largest gaming market in the world. It is the only industry in Oklahoma that has full wage parity. It is also the only industry in Oklahoma that is globally dominant, and 65% of management is women,” he noted. “I focus on this industry — rather than markets and galleries — because it’s the epicenter of Indian Country and it is how we’ve been able to rebuild.”
In addition to furniture, smalling has also partnered with Incredible Technologies to create the first Native American designed casino game, called “Ultra Rush Gold Featuring dg smalling.”
“Some of the designs in the game are contemporary, but some are 5,000 years old. I sat down with a historical preservation team to make sure there is no misappropriation and no misuse of design. The lexicon has been used for thousands of years and it still speaks. Using these designs in my game made them alive again.”
smalling is involved in so many ventures, it would be difficult to highlight them all. From designing the art on the Native Narrative Series for Emser Tiles to gold, silver and bronze coins with precious metals dealer APMEX to designing the artwork and logo for the Indigenous and Military workgroups at Amazon, smalling is constantly working. He said that it is a privilege to create art on behalf of the Native community in Oklahoma, the country and globally. “This will always be my primary focus, because there is still so much to do. There is always something new to create.”
dg smalling recently announced that he is officially collaborating with the iconic brand Louis Vuitton. He will be designing a pocket watch, only the eighth ever to be made by the company since its founding in 1854.
