Manifest Signs, Triptych 2017
Laser cut acrylic and vinyl. 40”x40”x 1.5” per panel

Each panel of this triptych portrays a “sign” that explores an ongoing effect of Manifest Destiny, the belief that Anglo expansion across the continent was destined by the Christian God.  In the first panel we see the death of Coyote, the anti-hero of mischief in Plateau oral tradition, whose role it is to explain the world and to model potential mistakes, so that we may choose better ourselves. The center panel depicts a heap of bison skulls, referencing the mass slaughter of an estimated 270 million bison by settlers, business owners, and US military, in an effort to destroy traditional ways of life, and to make way for further expansion. The final panel depicts rudimentary power posts, used to tie-off electricity in the demolition and construction of homes, as beacons that portend gentrification and scaffolds that uphold societal ideology and duplicity. Together, these pieces reflect a trajectory, as a history of genocide and colonialism has continued through the ongoing efforts to destroy, convert, gentrify, and expand. However, it is of note that Coyote is immortal. As long as a part of his remains survive he can be resurrected, eager for our creativity to continue his role as the Trickster, showing us the folly of our ways and empowering us to shape our world.     

 
Exhibited:
2017 Reservation X, Richmond Art Collective Gallery, Spokane, WA
2017 In the Spirit, (panel 2) Washington State Museum of History, Tacoma, WA