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The Wisdom of the Universe
Christi Belcourt a Métis visual artist and author who received the 2014 Ontario Arts Council Aboriginal Arts Award
Artist's statement: In Ontario, over 200 species of plants and animals are listed as threatened, endangered or extinct. Of those, included in this painting are the Dwarf Lake Iris, the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid, the Karner Blue butterfly, the West Virginia White butterfly, the Spring Blue-eyed Mary, the Cerulean Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher.
Globally, we live in a time of great upheaval. The state of the world is in crisis. We are witness to the unbearable suffering of species, including humans. Much of this we do to ourselves. It is possible for the planet to return to a state of well-being, but it requires a radical change in our thinking. It requires a willingness to be open to the idea that perhaps human beings have got it all wrong.
All species, the lands, the waters are one beating organism that pulses like a heart. We are all a part of a whole. The animals and plants, lands and waters, are our relatives each with as much right to exist as we have. When we see ourselves as separate from each other and think of other species, the waters and the planet itself as objects that can be owned, dominated or subjugated, we lose connection with our humanity and we create imbalance on the earth. This is what we are witnessing around us.
The planet already contains all the wisdom of the universe, as do you and I. It has the ability to recover built into its DNA and we have the ability to change what we are doing so this can happen.
Perhaps it's time to place the rights of Mother Earth ahead of the rights to Mother Earth.
https://ago.ca/agoinsider/artists-statement-christi-belcourt-wisdom-universe
Our True History
Ernesto Yerena Montejano identifies himself as a Chicano/Native/Indigenous artist, and was born and raised in El Centro, CA. Yerena's work explores and challenges issues of identity, gender norms, and politics, and he regularly produces politically and socially conscious images. Yerena is the founder and curator of the Alto Arizona Art campaign as well as a founding member of the We Are Human campaign.
Our True History (2013) This image was inspired by the American history books in American public schools who never teach us the true history of this country let alone teach people with indigenous ancestry to the continent the true history of their ancestor. This image is in honor of our ancestors. This print's purpose is to hopefully get people to question borders / colonizations / nation states built over our ancestral nation / our indigenous diet / our connection with nature / womyn and men dynamics / medicine / and many types of KNOWLEDGE.
We the Resilient (2017) features Montejano's artistic rendition of photographer Ayşe Gürsöz's photograph of Helen "Granny" Redfeather (Lakota) protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock Reservation. The poster features the title "We the Resilient Have Been Here Before," and was used during the Women's March on January 21, 2017.
We the Resilient
Messenger from the Sun
Helen Hardin (1943 – 1984) Shortly after birth at Santa Clara Pueblo near Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hardin was given the name Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh, meaning Little Standing Spruce, in the Tewa language.
Having spent her early childhood at Santa Clara with her mother’s family, Hardin spent much of the rest of her life in and around Albuquerque. Her work is informed by time-honored pueblo imagery as well as the art of her mother, the renowned artist Pablita Velarde (1918–2006). And yet, Hardin’s art departed radically from both influences. Whereas Velarde rendered traditional Native American scenes, Hardin created abstractions of traditions. As Hardin told an interviewer in 1984, “I don’t want to be doing anything that is not completely mine.”
As Helen’s father was Anglo, she was unable to participate in Pueblo ceremonies. Unlike her mother, who painted scenes of traditional Pueblo life, Hardin chose to interpret images of ancient pottery and rock art designs into contemporary, abstracted, highly individualized compositions. With the use of repeated geometric forms and layering techniques, viewers obtain a sense of introspect into a woman artist whose work is divided between traditional and modern worlds.
Hardin departed from the more traditional “flat style” often used by Native American artists, including her mother, seeking in her own work greater three-dimensionality and, often, translucent effects. She also used vibrant colors, spattering techniques, and metallic paint. At times, her work drew criticism from tribal members, who expressed concern that her mystical figures too closely resembled sacred kachinas, though Hardin was careful to always invent her own. “This is my language,” she explained, “This is how I’m going to talk.”
Spirit Lines: Helen Hardin Etchings features all 23 first editions of the Santa Clara Pueblo artist’s collection of copper plate etchings completed by the artist from 1980 to 1984, as well as the copper plates themselves, and images of the artist. The exact processes and precise techniques of copper plate etching were fitting for the labor-intensive, detailed compositions created by Helen Hardin. Through her groundbreaking career, Hardin created avenues for other Native women to break from traditionalism.
https://www.crockerart.org/oculus/spirit-lines-helen-hardin-etchings