Sacred Land

This painting was the first in a series that I created in 2021, a year after the outbreak of protests in response to the killing of George Floyd. The subject became a major theme in many successive pieces. Prior to this piece I had been experimenting with collage and mixed media on canvas, when it dawned on me that pulling imagery from my personal life might be even more interesting. This was the result. These images come from a protest I attended in Washington, D.C. that year and also a family trip to the Grand Canyon. I thought about how the Hualapai people had to struggle to protect and reclaim this part of the canyon and how we take our ability to "tour" it for granted. The juxtaposition of these images is meant to evoke a sense of irony and acknowledgment of the plights of both African-American and Indigenous people in the United States. I often use dried flowers in my pieces to convey a sense of mourning. In this piece the people are also placed in postures of devotion, offering an overall sense of solemnity.

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