The Spanish term for poppy, Dormidera, originates from a Latin root, which translates “to sleep”. This too speaks to the metaphors between the state flower and the indigenous peoples of California, as the language and culture of the Tongva-Gabrielino has been said to have become extinct. Members of the community have instead adopted the term of it being “asleep”, waiting to be awoken, to be revitalized through these ‘seeds’ left by its predecessors: our ancestors.
The work created in this series “Dormidera” speaks to the metaphor of the California State Flower and Indigenous people of CA, specifically in this first series of notable Tongva-Gabrielino portraits: vibrant, resilient and still here; however suffering from the effects of overpopulation, land loss, careless metaphoric and literal “trampling” of the land, extractive practices of “picking”, the side effects from the pressure of modern time. Our survival as Native people is like the survival of flowers during the #superblooms that began trending as CA hillsides bloomed in profusion during the Pandemic: visible, vibrant and yet still suffering from the effects of their lands being disrespected and desecrated.
By using rare historical portraits of members of the Tongva/Gabrielino community, I hope to create a visual juxtaposition between ephemeral, classical portraiture and overlays similar to Victorian pressed flower collecting and modern #superbloom trends. My goal is to create a dialogue between the audience and how the people in these photographs have been implemented in today’s modern cultural revival and the current “reseeding” of both culture and the larger landscape of California, reflecting the health of and/or damage to our tribal communities. This series hopes to also create a visual color through-line between Poppy/Flame motif speaking of how fire continues to be the commonality in this revitalization: a physical manifestation in shades of yellow-orange-red speaking to land care relationships and a forward movement of cultural revival through language keeping, protests of land theft and fights for land back, as the intangible petals of the poppy flower, whose beauty no one can truly hold onto.
DORMIDERA #1: LANGUAGE The first of 3 images in this series of work would be a portrait of our last language keeper: Narcissa Higuera Rosemeyer. While she was of mixed race and heritage, being Tongva-Gabrielino and Serrano, it was through her documentation of language through oral history and through wax cylinder recordings, that we have any of the scarce materials we do have available in the present time. Our name for our people is a direct result from the materials she left.
This is the original exhibited art piece: a mixed media piece done in hand constructd redwood frames, cotton canvas, gesso, red ochre, acrylic and acrylic ink. The piece measures approx. 47" x 47".
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