Indigenous Women: Border Matters features a timely look at four Indigenous women artists who speak to issues on both sides of the U.S. border. Their practice is guided by contemporary issues of identity, self-determination, human rights, and the impacts on the human experience. The works explore and question how Indigenous women interact with the land we inhabit. The layering of symbolism, meaning in the art, and deconstructing concepts including memory, cultural heritage, and politics, form the basis of the exhibition by artists Makaye Lewis (Tohono O'odham), Daisy Quezada Ureña (Mexican-American), M. Jenea Sanchez (Latinx), and Gabriela Muñoz (Latinx).
Lewis states, "As a Tohono O'odham citizen, my art stems from environmental influences and my culture. I come from a Tribal nation on the border, and we never experienced removal from our traditional lands. I am comforted knowing that I am where I am meant to be. Still, I find discomfort in knowing the many issues that arise when an imaginary political line leaves half my reservation in the United States and half in Mexico."
The exhibition comes to us from the Wheelwright Museum, where it was curated by Chief Curator Andra R. Hanley. We thank the Wheelwright and the artists for sharing their works with us.
