Artworks commissioned and/or purchased for public collections:
“Four Views On a River”, 2023. Commissioned for the Washington State Convention Center Summit Building in Seattle. Digitally altered images printed onto Dibond sheets and manipulated with acrylic, graphite, ink, Posca marker, and sand. Dimensions for panels 1 and 2: 96 x 240 inches each, panel 3: 96 x 192 inches, and panel 4: 96 x 288 inches.
The artwork consists of four large panels depicting the Duwamish River in various stages: its former natural state, early to middle stages of alteration and industrialization, and its current form and condition as a Superfund site. The images are stark and abstract, allowing the viewer to engage with them on their own terms without feeling led by the hand.
The history of the Duwamish River is also one of colonization. And just like the river, Native peoples have survived, despite efforts to suppress or eradicate us. To the local Native peoples, the river is alive. As a Native artist I wanted to show that despite its mutilation and desecration, it still survives and retains its power.
I wish to thank Duwamish tribal leader and elder Ken Workman for meeting with me early on to discuss this project and offer me much-appreciated advice and context. Thank you Ken!
Desecrations # 1 – 4: Mixed media on commissioned Navajo rugs. Collection of the Seattle Art Museum.
“Desecrations” responds to ongoing environmental threats to traditional Diné lands and communities from both government and private interests (including toxic pollution caused by uranium mining, coal burning, and fracking), as well as the exploitation and pollution of indigenous lands and water sources around the world. Each rug is presented as a surrogate for both Native land and culture. I wanted these pieces to be simultaneously beautiful and ugly, perhaps reflecting the ambivalence some may feel about sacrificing health, tradition and sacred land for the sake of much-needed jobs.
I wish to thank Tyra Preston for weaving these gorgeous rugs and without whom this series could not have been realized.
Commission for the Seattle Portable Works Collection. In 1994 I was awarded a commission to create three paintings that would reside within public offices of the City of Seattle. At the time I was interested in generating new potential mythological imagery as a tongue-in-cheek attempt at sacralizing the office space (a strategy I would later revisit with my “Office Shaman” piece). Reflecting on these works, I think I may have been trying to achieve some kind of blending of Marxism and Spirituality.
