Land-based Art

In this project, I consider contemporary land-based art rooted in ongoing relationships with the more-than-human world (the land and all its inhabitants). I argue that Indigenous approaches to land-based art center the land and nature as a dynamic participants, unlike how they were thought of in the Land Art movement of the 1960s and 70s. Using the work of Maureen Gruben (Inuvialuk) and Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich (Koyukon Dené and Iñupiaq), I explore how Indigenous land-based art reflects millennia of relationships to place. Indigenous artists focus on working with the land, which can function as a viewer of artistic interventions, as a material with a voice, and often, as a collaborator who helps to create. 

Thrivance and Contemporary Indigenous Art

This collaborative project focuses on the theme and framework of thrivance. Thrivance is described by scholars such as Dianne F. Baumann (Blackfeet Nation descendant), Andrew Jolivétte (Atakapa-Ishak Nation of Louisiana [Tsikip/Opelousa/Heron Clan]), Joaquin Muñoz (Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Chicano), Karina Walters, and Michelle Johnson-Jennings as a way go beyond, to think beyond, to be beyond Gerald Vizenor's (Anishinaabe) theory of survivance. Survivance, combining survival and resistance, pushes back against the settler state, highlighting the importance of Indigenous peoples' active, rather than passive, stance. On the other hand, thrivance foregrounds Indigenous people as present and productive. Connecting to concepts like identity, joy and celebration, activism, and more, we argue that contemporary Native American and Indigenous art embodies thrivance. 

• Archival and Collections Research

  • National Museum of the American Indian (Washington D.C. and New York City), Cultural Resources Center (National Museum of the American Indian), Scandinavia House, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage Museum, Alaska State Museum, National Gallery of Canada, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Winnipeg Art Gallery, etc.

• Artist Interviews and Oral Histories 

• Indigenous Frameworks

  • Storywork, Materiality, Kincentricity, Storied Objects, Thrivance, Relationality, Visual Sovereignty, etc. 

• Collaborative Research 

• Exhibition Studies

• Visual and Material Culture Analysis 

Research should always be collaborative. This is especially true for myself, a non-Indigenous scholar, who seeks to engage Indigenous art and research through Indigenous perspectives/frameworks. It is important to me to highlight scholars, artists, and discourse that has influenced me and reminds me of the stakes of this work. 

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but if you are interested in frameworks and concepts like those above, then this would be a great list to get you started!