Newest Works

Princess

Mursi, or Mursu or Mun as they refer to themselves, are a Nilotic pastoral ethnic group in Ethiopia. Their territory of around 2,000 square kilometers lies in the South Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Regional State, roughly between the Rivers Omo and Mago, close to the border with South Sudan. According to the 2007 national census, there are 7,500 Mursi, 448 of whom live in urban areas. Surrounded by mountains between the Omo River and its tributary the Mago, the home of the Mursi is one of the most isolated regions of the country. Due to the climate, they move twice a year between the winter and summer months. They herd cattle and grow crops along the banks of the Omo River.

What this means to me: Millions of first nation people live in all corners of the globe in quiet obscurity, unaware of the worrying issues that dominate the minds of developed nations. Although many of these people suffer from oppression and lack of resources, I often wonder if they are not happier in their day to day lives.

Atlas of Humanity, https://www.atlasofhumanity.com/mursi

Tsi'yu-Gunsini

“Should we not therefore run all risks, and incur all consequences, rather than to submit to further loss of our country? Such treaties may be alright for men who are too old to hunt or fight. As for me, I have my young warriors about me. We will hold our land.”

Tsi’yu-Gunsini (English name Dragging Canoe or Drags His Canoe) was a Cherokee leader who violently opposed white expansion into Indian land during the American Revolutionary War. Though stricken and scarred by smallpox as a child, he grew into a muscular, 6-foot-tall warrior. Unlike his father, Chief Attakullakulla, the peace leader for the Cherokee who sought accommodation with whites, Dragging Canoe was opposed to any form of white encroachment on Cherokee lands. Angered by the 1775 agreement through which the Cherokee sold all of Kentucky and part of Tennessee, he prophesied that the Cherokee would eventually be banished to some distant land. Dragging Canoe led a dissident group who refused to sign the treaty. While Attakullakulla and most Cherokee sided with the Americans during the revolutionary war, Dragging Canoe sided with the British, using British-supplied weaponry to attack settlers in Tennessee. When the Cherokee were driven from the region in 1782, Dragging Canoe established a new home near Chickamauga, Tennessee, from which he continued to attack white settlers. In retaliation, the Americans destroyed all Chickamauga villages. As the Cherokee continued signing away their land, Dragging Canoe maintained his policy of armed resistance. In 1782, he again led his people to a new settlement downriver, though in 1784, these new villages were also destroyed. Afterward, Dragging Canoe finally agreed to peace.

What this means to me: The United States tends to believe that life in what we call America started in 1492. In truth, millions of indigenous people were living in complex societies in North America long before Columbus “discovered” the new continent. The Cherokee were only one of the thousands of people groups that suffered under the onslaught of European colonization. We must remember the people that we displaced to gain the “land of the free” of which we like to boast.

TSI’YU-GUNSINI, quoted in “Cherokee Leaders Speak,” www.ncpedia.org/anchor/cherokee-leaders-speak

EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO),https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/dragging-canoe

Dragging Canoe’s War by Albert Bender 8/31/2017,https://historynet.com/dragging-canoes-war/

Fearless

For decades, Native American and Alaska Native communities have struggled with high rates of assault, abduction, and murder of tribal members. Community advocates describe the crisis as a legacy of generations of government policies of forced removal, land seizures and violence inflicted on Native peoples.

A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime, including 56.1 percent who have experienced sexual violence.

In the year leading up to the study, 39.8 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women had experienced violence, including 14.4 percent who had experienced sexual violence.

Overall, more than 1.5 million American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime.

What this means to me: Native women are some of the most vulnerable people groups in the United States. In spite of the odds stacked against them, they remain strong and unyielding in their fight to be seen and heard. After centuries of marginalization and abuse, I feel that we owe these women the same “justice and domestic tranquility” that we all take for granted.

For each one of these pieces that are purchased, $1,000 will be donated to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. NIWRC is a Native-led nonprofit organization committed to ending violence against Native women, children, and communities.

U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs, https://www.bia.gov/service/mmu/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people-crisis

National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center https://www.niwrc.org/

Doggerman

Doggerland was a significant prehistoric landmass that once connected Great Britain to the European continent, existing around twelve thousand years ago. This area, located in the North Sea, featured diverse landscapes, including sloping hills, wooded valleys, marshlands, and lagoons. It was inhabited by a community of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, referred to as the Doggerlanders, who thrived on the region's rich natural resources, which included a variety of plants and animal species. However, approximately eight thousand years ago, rising sea levels due to climate change gradually submerged Doggerland, forcing its inhabitants to migrate to higher ground in what is now England and the Netherlands.

The existence of Doggerland was forgotten for centuries until it was rediscovered in the twentieth century, following the discovery of ancient artifacts by fishermen. Numerous archaeological findings, including tools and remnants of Mesolithic dwellings have since emerged.

One of the most interesting finds was a collection of deer antler frontlets, made from the skulls of red deer which thrived in the marshlands. These frontlets were perhaps worn by hunters as camouflage, or perhaps by shamans in various rituals and ceremonies.

What this means to me: The history of various people groups fascinates me. I can see a man sitting by the fire and working the deer skull with stone tools until it could be worn as an adornment. Throughout history into modern times, humans have used materials at hand to change or enhance their appearance for various purposes. I feel a strange echo of kinship to these people that lived thousands of years ago.

EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/geology/doggerland,

Star Carr Archaeology Project, https://www.starcarr.com/

Guardian

The Mebengokre (Kayapo) people are guardians of the world’s largest Indigenous managed tropical forest, home to countless species of plants, animals, insects. Covering nearly 100,000 square kilometers, Kayapo’s protected territory is larger than many sovereign nations. Moreover, Kayapo territories sequester an estimated 1.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, regulating the planet’s climate. This land is not just a place, but an integral part of the Kayapo identity. Defending it from external threats like gold miners, loggers, and poachers is a complex endeavor, undertaken through the collaborative efforts of various Kayapo-NGO alliances.

What this means to me: Natural wilderness areas are under constant threat around the world from the select few who value profits over all else. The Amazon rain forest is a global resource that must be protected for the benefit of our planet. The Kayapo people are to be admired and supported for their determination to protect not only their ancestral homeland, but also a vital global treasure.

For each one of these pieces that are purchased, $1,000 will be donated to the Kayapo Project through Biome Friends, a 501(c)(3) organization that works with Biome Conservation (International Conservation Fund of Canada).

Kayapo Project, https://kayapo.org/

Prayer

As he went along, He saw a man blind from birth… He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go”, He told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam”. So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. “How then were your eyes opened?”, they asked. He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and then could see.” John 9:1, 6-7, 10-11. Bible, New International Version, abridged.

What this means to me: This one is very personal. I was born into the evangelical church and was exposed daily to the power of the unconditional love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. I have vivid memories of our small church singing the old hymns that still touch my heart.

However, I left the church in 2016 when the church of my childhood stopped worshiping Jesus Christ. The church instead chose to worship a vile man-made god who only stands for hate, division, corruption and self aggrandizement. New atrocities occur almost daily, but the church of my childhood remains steadfast in their support of this man. I will never attend an evangelical church again until God heals this country from this sickness.

I pray that my countrymen will wash the mud from their eyes and will see the path toward healing and serving our true God.

Resin sculpture, 17 x 12 x 12 inches

Resin sculpture, 19 x 11 x 11 inches

Resin sculpture, 16 x 8 x 9 inches

Resin sculpture, 28 x 15 x 14 inches

Resin sculpture, 15 x 8 x 8 inches

Resin sculpture, 17 x 9 x 10 inches