Wetqapalatl 2024
Wetqapalatl Pronunciation guide: wet·hka·ba·la·dêl
“Immerse in water”
2024
Hand-made paper and cut text
Photos by Chris Miner/ Courtesy of Union Gallery
This exhibition is rooted in my experiences during my artist residency at Headlands Center for the Arts, where I spent time with the land and reflected on my approach to placemaking. Inspired by L.H. Stallings’ words, "The land’s refusal to be separated from flesh," my work examines the connection between Indigenous and Black bodies and the land.
The series includes handmade paper, drawings, and prose which all reflect the importance of knowing, sharing moments, and building reciprocal yet complex relationships with the land. This work builds on my previous interactive installation, "Gepmite'tg," which featured over 300 sheets of paper. In that installation, participants used sage ash to reveal the embossed names of Indigenous women lost to violence. By blending and reconstituting this marked paper, I created newly formed sheets as a symbol of collective grief, solidarity, and kinship of the communities impacted by the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirited individuals (MMIWG2S+).
For years, I have kept these names close, unable to part with them, and have chosen to recontextualize them into new handmade paper. In this work, I invite viewers to engage with themes of collective grief and loss while nurturing solidarity and kinship with the land. Each sheet is imbued with the memory of these women—our ancestors.
The handmade paper reflects ancestral connections, while the beaded hide work reflects shared sacred laughter and collective moments of deep breathing that enrich our communities. It embodies our craving for connection, the desire to be held and to hold the land, to be "dirt eaters," and to return to the land.
