SARAH ORTEGON Fences, 2013
On the Mend is a body of work employing found objects paired with traditional Native American materials; leather, hair, and beads. A beaded large leather pelt surrounded by suspended miniature liquor bottles highlights reservation landscapes, all of which are beaded. Collectively these beaded objects express the healing process that occurs after tragedy. One of my inspirations includes James Luna’s performance “Artifact Piece.” He lays still in a display case, reflecting on the Native American culture that is sometimes viewed as being extinct. On the Mend takes his thoughts a step further and reflects on the current state of existence for the people and rural areas on the reservation. The central leather pelt portrays a landscape of an abandoned burnt out house juxtaposed with found alcohol “shooter” bottles, emptied of their “spirits” like lost souls. Once meaningful practices are being replaced by
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the use of mind numbing substances, which is off setting the balance of the communities on the reservation. My work brings attention to the lost, deserted, and ignored, representing both the people and the objects. The finished bottles are suspended from hair; which is significant because when someone passes away in the Arapahoe culture, they are buried with the hair of their loved ones. Although, On the Mend concentrates on what was left behind, beadwork, a meditative process, expresses the slow progression of healing. Beadwork is time consuming, but in the end, a beautiful product is made from something that was once dismissed as trash. Taking the discarded, such as a scrap of glass and giving it meaning, is another way of giving it a purpose; allowing the healing process to begin.