Myths

Myths and legends are integral part of the creation of bonds between individuals within a society and serve as a form of history for those within the community. This has been observed throughout much of history. For example, the ancient Romans incorporated much of their mythology into their history to the point where historians find much of the two fused in their inscriptions. Such myths still exist in various forms today, such as in the remnants cultures that have dwindled in number. Both artists, Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi, address the themes of identity, home, personal narrative, and mythology through its incorporation in their work involving the usage of myth to emphasize their culture’s significance in history.

Wendy Red Star demonstrates the significance of her Native American culture through integrating the traditional rituals, songs, and myths into her work that are commonplace those of her culture. For example, in the work “Let Them have Their Voice” she depicts the silhouettes of Crow chiefs, performing their traditional songs which allows the culture of her people to be heard through these anonymous silhouettes. Though I am unaware of what the chief’s are, they most likely connect to some myth that is used to guide their people. Their songs are a distinct sound unique to the Native American people, which very well demonstrates the impact that their culture has in history.

Similarly, in her work, “Man Dog (Monkey),” she addresses mythology through the lens of how her ancestors interpreted certain animals. The reproductions are depicted in a way that is mythical in nature and perhaps legends were told of these animals among their communities.

In the same way, Olujimi creates a more modern interpretation of an old form of mythical stories. He uses the constellations of the stars, a practice used throughout time to tell stories ancient times, to tell an entirely new story that perhaps aims to be a myth of the future generations eventually. The characters move through the stars as constellations themselves, which is a unique blend of modern and ancient storytelling.

Myths are fictitious stories, but they serve to some kind of purpose or lesson to be learned from them. In the same way, I aim to tell a story that is unique to my experience that is not exactly true to reality, but certainly pulls from it and personifies things in a way that are understandable and still tie to ideas of reality. The mythical elements that I am interested in incorporating into my narrative would be the shadowy figure that is born from my shadow that is more or less a personification of apathy towards most things and also my seemingly random times where I lack motivation. These elements personified will exaggerate the themes of myself not so apparent in reality to tell a tale of coming to terms with my flaws and overcoming them. In terms of culture, I’ll maybe exaggerate my lack thereof, considering I don’t connect too strongly to my cultural heritage, and my background is a bit all over the place. The mythological aspects of storytelling that are evident within the works of the museum exhibitions are definitely something that I look to incorporating into my own self-portrait. I aim to create characters that have specific meanings and to have an overall message that anyone of any culture can lean from and identify with.

To conclude, the exhibition works usage of mythology helped to greatly emphasize the significance of their cultural heritage. Each work helped to build on a narrative that brings their culture into a new generation and allows their culture and history to be celebrated and to thrive.