Bloodline, Keeper of the Seeds
2021, 30″ x 98″ x 18″ in, Unique cast bronze with patina, cedar, and steel

It is a matriarchal society that my family lineage comes from; the woman cared for the children and the stories of their family. They told the history and planted the seeds for the next generation. Their lives, my life, and that of my daughter are full of the twists and turns that women hold in our society.

The Cigar Figures come from a childhood Native American story that my mother told of the “Stick People.” The “Stick People” would run through the night and call your name; if you went with them, you were never heard from again. She never described the figures, and I was always drawn to the idea of what they looked like. The Cigar Figures are my reimagining of that story, now a story of family and my past—a complicated narrative of loss, survival, and resilience. The figures are made from real cigars and found sticks, all cast in bronze. The faces are of the ancestors and family shaped from the idea of a cameo or silhouette painting to capture the faces of the families.

When hung, the light casts a shadow of the figures on the wall. This shadow represents memory for me. Like a shadow, these memories cannot be held, and in the end, we are all only a shadow in history, shadows on this earth.

Available

For inquiries, please contact:
The Studio
Mustang, OK 73064 | 405.308.0239

Exhibition History

• EXPO Chicago 2023, (April 13-16) Center for Native Futures, Chicago Illinois 
• Upturned Flower That Travels, The Volland Store, Alma, Kansas (November 6 – December 5, 2021 )