Nature, community and indigeneity are all things that are very crucial to my work. I cultivate different community events for Native and Indigenous students within the Chicagoland area and within the School of The Art Institute of Chicago. By facilitating and hosting different events as a way to bring people together shows a form of resistance. Watching people come together and enjoying their time shows a larger picture of generational joy and resilience within every one of us.
My community work heavily fuels my multi-media work. I don’t stick to one medium. In some pieces, I’m seen to have pushed the material I’ve worked with in a different yet elegant way. My work is normally adorned with flowers and certain things that are very crucial to native culture such as leather, antlers, beads or beadwork and sometimes sweetgrass. Sometimes this material is seen physically or it is seen two-dimensionally on paper or another flat material. When weaving with natural materials and beading, with every motion, I’m putting my energy and good intent into my work, giving it life.
I want the audience to get a sense of joy when looking at my work but also get a better understanding of what a contemporary native person can be like. Within my work, there is a strong feminine presence which gives ode to me growing up in a matrilineal community. I’ve most recently turned to photography. Using the camera as a tool within my artwork to help me explore this concept of representation of my community within non-native spaces allowing people to view what things are like through my lens.