As I entered the Wendy Red Star's "A Scratch On The Earth" exhibit, I immediately felt the essence of ‘home’ that she is trying to portray to the audience. On the walls are images, a map and a sweat lodge located right in the middle of the exhibition. Looking around the room, you can feel Wendy Red Stars sense of identity through her culture. It is strongly visible on how she takes pride and honor on being a Native American and being a member of the Crow tribe, and wants to share this with the world through her art. A map named “Map of the Allotted Lands of the Crow Reservation, Montana—A Tribute to Many Good Women.” as well as a timeline of the Crow Tribe from a first hand experience bringing in her own personal photographs with hand written notes on the wall shows ---
Inside the sweat lodge in the middle of the room, made with hand sewn textiles, a projector showcasing the seven towns in the Crow Reservation where Wendy Red Star grew up. The audience has the opportunity to experience and feel how it is like to live on a Native American Reserve. Wendy Red Star made it possible for a person like me to feel how it is like to be in her shoes which was a phenomenal experience, I myself had the chance to visit the exhibit alone, and was able to be inside the tent alone surrounded by serene visuals and sounds. It was like I was transported to the Crow reserve.
Kambui Olujimi created the “Skywriter Constellation” that is projected up on the planetarium dome. It was a challenge to watch it, since you are in an uncomfortable position looking up the planetarium dome. It is also accompanied with 12 lithographs with illustrations of mythologies. Myth is a is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in society, such as foundational tales. He used Ancient roman folklore and connected it with his personal stories. He is exploring ones Identity and embracing the journey of self discovery, challenging the past, present and the future, as well as the astrological aspect and the unknown.
I relate to Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi as they continue to explore different parts of themselves through their culture, interests and passions. Self Identity is not only through one’s physical appearance, but what does one identify with. It could be one’s gender/sexual identity, spiritual identity or cultural Identity. Coming from a family of Filipino Immigrants, I am heavily influenced by my cultural identity and my religion. Being colonized by the Spaniards for more than 300 years, the Philippines became a Catholic country. A ‘myth’ I believe in is God or Jesus Christ. A big part of my identity is my faith and my spirituality and I plan to address this in my art by trying to capture the invisible essence of His holiness and His greatness by capturing the emotions I feel through Him. As an artist, I believe each art piece we create is a reflection of our true selves. Art is an expression of our vision and imagination. Each art piece is a self portrait whether it is representative or not, whether it is intentional or not. Each piece we create in this world is a reflection of who we truly are, what we believe in, and what we identify with.
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