Artist Statement:
MOTHER EARTH FATHER SKY
CIRCLE CEREMONY FIRE EARTH
FOUR DIRECTIONS AHO WATER
SWEAT LODGE WIGWAM TIPI
POWWOW CREATOR EAGLE FEATHER
LOVE PEACE SOLIDARITY SHARE
LAND RAINBOW SHELLS MOON
SUN STARS PLANETS HEAL
TURTLE ISLAND ATTAN AKAMI
SNOW ICE MIST HORIZON
Absegami is the Lenape name for Absecon Island, the land which includes the area now known as Atlantic City. Many of my landscape photographs of coastlines are taken on Absegami and also other coastlines on Turtle Island, the name many indigenous peoples gave to what is now called North America. When possible I acknowledge the indigenous names for lands.
During Hurricane Sandy in 2012 I documented some of the damaged boardwalk, piers, and pilings. I continue to document both the destruction/erosion and the prevailing beauty of our beach environments. Water, which we need for life, is becoming a threatening force due to environmental damage caused by humans not properly taking care of Mother Earth.
Efforts should be made by contemporary residents, native and non-native, to care for Absegami water and land in a more respectful, sustainable manner.
Bio: Phoebe Farris, Ph.D. (Powhatan-Pamunkey) has intertwined careers that embrace the concept of interdisciplinary and transnational research. As an independent curator, documentary photographer, art therapist, author, and Purdue University Professor Emerita, Farris explores issues involving race, gender, indigenous sovereignty, Native American Studies, the environment, peace and social justice from multiple perspectives.
Her books, Voices of Color: Art and Society in the Americas, Women Artists of Color: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook to 20th Century Artists in the Americas, and Art Therapy and Psychotherapy: Blending Two Therapeutic Approaches, create dialogues about the intersection of social activism and the arts.
Phoebe Farris is currently the Contributing Arts Editor for Cultural Survival Quarterly and serves on the boards of Stockton University Noyes Museum of Art and the Friends of Pleasant Grove-Francis Moore Museum. She has also written for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Magazine, taught at the Corcoran School of Art-George Washington University, and participated in several traveling art exhibitions as both an artist and essayist.
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