Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi

The Newark Museum exposed us to the work of Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi. These works consisted of their own personal narratives, identity, home, and mythology.  In the first exhibition “Wendy Red Star” we are instantly intrigued by her works because of the uniqueness and bright colors she uses to demonstrate her identity and cultural pride. 

One of her interesting pieces was “Map of the Allotted Lands of the Crow Reservation, Montana-A Tribute to Many Good Women" which is a mixed-media installation layers a 1907 map of the Crow Reservation with present-day images of crow women, positioned over their ancestral land plots. The purpose behind this piece was to be a sense of importance to her people such as Native Americans mirroring themselves as natives instead of being viewed as a foreign race of people. This shows us how Red Star tries to idealize the way people look at Native Americans despite the racist point of views. This piece also works like mythology as it serves a social purpose by telling the tales of who originally owned the lands before these laws took place.

We were also introduced to Kambui Olujimi whose work was similar to Red Star’s but also different. His work consisted of 12 lithographs. A difference between the two would be Olujimi’s work focusing on a series of sky constellations. They were also similar by both works responding to mythology and having culture related to their work. Olujimi’s constellations each had their own story assigned to each month with a different mythic narrative. In the end, both communicate universal messages. Both Olujimi and Red Star want their stories and art to be shown and make people want to dig deeper into their work to wonder what they are doing and why they are doing it. I would have to say that my own project can connect with the work in the museum by wanting to have the same concept of mystery where people would have to dig deeper into the work to get a better understanding on how I am deciding to express my identity.

Myths, Home and Self-Portraiture

            When we went to the Newark Museum, a lot of us were astonished by the weight Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi's work portrayed. A weight that imposed themes of identity, home, personal narrative and mythology in a form of expressive and captivating art and sculpture. One piece that stood out to me the most was My Home is Where My Tipi Sits (Sweat Lodges), 2011 - because of how it connected to the sculptural piece of the sweat lodge. I realized that being able to physically connect with an experience so personal and engaging brought light to the documentation of the different types of sweat lodges.  It was a chance where the viewer could conceptually visualize the cultural identity connected to the sweat lodges. The interior of the sweat lodge is a communal space of rejuvenation and prayer that includes for cycles of pouring water over rocks heated over an open fire outside the lodge. The cycles symbolically reference the four seasons, the four directions, and the four components of the world and are thus inherently tied to the land. Stepping into something that would not normally be a comfort zone for many successfully portrayed Wendy Red Star's motives and personal narrative. Along with different types of "Tipi's" there was a collection of churches that resembled a tipi in the architecture. The arrow, shelter like roof was in the shape that mythological culture would present the shape of tipis. The whole ideal of having a communal space of rejuvenation and prayer that is somehow tied with the land it's on became the concept on how this cultural identity is similar to many of our cultures in regards to having a comfort zone. Being part of a community where we can feel as if we have belonging. How our beliefs, narratives and identities all collide into one and that is how we identify our selves. Wendy Red Star's work and it's way of showing viewers how life as a Native American was really connects to the self-portrait projects that we are creating because we are curating the indifference in the myths and the actual culture itself. How our cultural communities stand and how their beliefs are they way we represent ourselves to others. My family is from Venezuela and there is currently a myth that the economy prospers in socialism. If you don't know where Venezuela's economy stands now they are at a 1,000,000% rate of inflation with no resources, food, power or medicine because of the crisis that arose from Nicolas Maduro's presidency. It's a little bit of a far stretch but if given economy another name that could represent the gender roles in a Venezuelan house hold, I could tie it back to something like "a creative woman [does not] prosper in socialism." Further explaining my self-portrait, I would play upon the idea of how me branching out into the art community instead of staying home with the strict and authoritative roles for women in a Venezuelan household, helped shaped me to who I am today.

Myths, Home, and Self-Portraiture

The works of Wendy Red Star dealt heavily in themes of identity, home, and personal narrative. Her Family Portrait Series is a collection of photos incorporated into a colorful star quilt, which is traditionally a precious object in Crow Communities. This work is a statement of personal identity and according to the artist was made in response to a crisis of authenticity. Also featured, and easily my favorite was a collection of annotated photos from the 1880 Crow Peace Delegation. These photos were taken during a meeting between the Crow Delegation and the President and some subjects of these photos went unidentified until Red Star dove into her history to give them a narrative.

 

 

            Kambui Olujimi’s featured works are part of a collection that stems from his book of contemporary myths, Wayward North. Skywriters was an excerpt of that book but I couldn’t tell you what it was about. The Constellations exhibit is a dozen lithographs that represent characters and other things from Wayward North. Not featured in the Newark Museum, are fabric star-maps that Olujimi created as part of this collection which also feature characters from the book. By using star-maps and the constellation lithographs Olujimi draws on the origins of myths and tales, the stars. 

            During my research, I discovered that Puerto Rico has influences from the native Taino that lived in the Caribbean when Columbus sailed. I found a myth about a young woman who is left to drown in a river by her cowardly father but is saved by a Taino warrior. Of course, the girl and the warrior fall in love and her father attempts to kill the warrior so he flees. The warrior a girl meet once more and her father ends up shooting her in an attempt to kill the warrior. She is revived by the warrior with some magic water and he is then killed by the dad while returning to bring news about his daughter. The father never knows his daughter lived and she stays in a cave waiting for the warrior to return, eventually dying of a broken heart. If I decided to include the story mentioned then it could have some slight connection to Wendy Red Star’s works. The Crows and Tainos were from different lands but they both have the pleasure of being visited, nearly eradicated, and forgotten.

Wendy Red Star at the Newark Museum

     Wendy Red Star’s works, “Scratch on the Earth”, are about her Crow Indian heritage and her tribe of people which includes her ancestral past and her present. She presents the Crow tribes past in portraiture, altered portraiture, video and voice production. Not only do the portraits speak with written voice, she describes the people’s importance in their own cultures and their important aspects of their heritage through these written voices. She does this with written text above, below and beside the pictures marked with red ink. Wendy gives these women  and their men in these pictures their voice and the importance on how women were regarded equally  as important as the men they married and lived with. This narrative was definitely about Identity as we have been reading in our class assignments. 

There are recordings of Indian tribe members while chanting, each one documented with a number. She knew the Crow people could not speak how they were important in their culture identity at the time the pictures were taken during the crow’s 1880 struggles to negotiate and preserve the boundaries of their land and culture. These displays are a recording of marked importance on how her people suffered loss of land, territory and the changes of her people. Also, how the newer generations keep traditions of the past alive through  there still, usage of sweat lodge tipis. The sweat lodge there in the museum display (which when entered flash scenes of the Montana landscape at a 360-degree angle) brings together the crow’s mythology related to the Montana landscape. And the beautiful family, star quilts, signify the tribal families today through tribal color and family portraiture. These quilts are assuring and preserving family heritage for future generations to come. An account of family homes with their current sweat lodges in back show proof history is very much alive in Crow’s documented present. The tribal costume with vibrant ceremonial colors is on display also. Tradition of dancing with these costumes goes back  in time when ceremonies presented a special event such as a successful hunt or a celebration of some sort. Other costumes with elk teeth( a sign of wealth or prosperity) are on display as well.

Skywriters and Constellations by Kombui Olujimi’s Wayward North Project

       I would have to say the film was over my head when I viewed it, literally speaking. I saw things in it that reminded me of the Constellations of the sky . There was definitely a narrative in the story of time and space. The movie in the planetarium was somewhat spacey. Someone offering someone candy, at first, they wouldn’t take it, then did. The full dome video represented space in time of various events, very mythical, in your mind type of things, things you might question, think about. The film itself was visually surreal like. People’s ghost like images materialize and then faded, then an outline of someone appears. The woman narrating it had a calm soothing voice that almost made one sleepy when she talked. I wondered if I was a pot smoker, I’m not, I might have enjoyed it more. That’s not to say I didn’t, I did in fact. It was just very out there. Very innovative.

I found the lithographic prints really intriguing . They are based on science and mythology book he wrote in 2010. It went from month to month and a narrative was written below each interpretation he lithographed ,that was a circle with mythical pictures inside of them. Again ,the pictures were somewhat surreal in nature and each image varied greatly. They reminded me  of films of fish deep in the ocean that are transparent and see through. Some looked like slow-motion transparent birds being photographed in flight.  There were depictions of people as well. Each image that was encircled represented a month.

     The story of each lithograph was a long going narrative about Ms. Catherine , Naliah, shape shifting, observatory houses etc. and was just the kind of mythical narrative a child might enjoy of a certain age but the pictures were very new age and beautiful. It was a culmination of science and mythology. 

Myths, Home, and Self-Portraiture

Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi

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.

Myths, Home and Self-portraiture

During the trip to the Newark museum we visited the works of Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi. Red Star’s exhibit mostly focuses on her home identity through her native American culture. Olujimi uses multimedia such as his short film “Skywriters” and various different prints to tell the mythic narrative in his “Wayward North” project

In one of Red Star’s installations she uses a 1907 map of the Crow reservation with images of present day Crow women placed over their ancestral plots of land. Traditionally the Crow society was matrilineal until the General Allotment Act of 1887. The U.S government divided the land of the Indians and this resulted in the matriarchal society to be replaced with a patriarchal one. Wendy uses this part of her culture to show off and empower a different part of her identity, her gender identity. The whole piece as a whole honors the matrilineal history of the Crow tribe.

In another piece of hers, Four Seasons, Wendy uses herself as the main subject in the piece. There are four individual photos with her in the frame and the four seasons are used as the background. This piece focuses on her identity and culture. Red Star uses the photos to portray herself and her culture the way she wants to be seen and heard and clear up the misrepresentations of not just her tribe but natives altogether.

Olujimi’s short film was interesting, but hard to follow and a little confusing at the same time. The film didn’t seem to have any conclusion and jumped around a lot, but was still interesting. The series of constellations are based on characters and mythic narrative that are in his novel “Wayward North”.

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.