Land Reciprocity: moving with healing intentions
The land is medicine and moving on it with intention is healing. This is what I have been taught by several Indigenous elders. I am a white wife and mother in a Lakȟóta Thiwáhe (family). It is my responsibility to understand this and teach it to my children by setting an example based on how I live my life. I knew this teaching before my son was born but I started to understand it differently as he grew inside me and finally came earth-side. He and I have walked, hiked, and run countless miles together since his birth. As we moved across the land, my intention was for postpartum healing, but I quickly discovered our movement together transcended the present. Time became non-linear as we began healing the past and the future with present day healing intentions. This artwork is part of that healing process. It is made up of two creative practices that I work on individually.
Simultaneous Memories are photographic double exposures that represent the unearthing of my subconscious and conflicting childhood memories that arise as I raise my child today. In this practice, I make at least one double exposure a day. Most of the photographs have been made while out on a walk, run, or hike with my son. Since his birth, my relationship to the land has changed. I no longer run for personal records but instead to show him how to be a good human and loving ancestor.
Begging Poetics are poems made from a daily writing practice. These poems portray present day reflections on my experience of early motherhood and postpartum in the pandemic. Although I have been writing poetry since I was a little girl at my desk underneath my bedroom window, this daily practice didn’t start until the day my son was born. The poetry here was written anytime between February 1, 2020, and February 1, 2021.
Together, each body of work demonstrates how present-day choices can heal the past and the future. Each concentrate on different eras of linear time yet are displayed in a nonlinear timeline. Choose your own adventure by starting at either end. And look out for the hidden poem-gems woven throughout. If you stay long enough, you might just find a secret, yourself, or a new perspective.
The artwork in this exhibition was made on O’odham, Yavapai, Akimel O’odham, Hohokam, Pueblos, and Ndee/Nnēē (Western Apache) lands in present day Arizona. This information was gathered by using the @NativeLandNet app.
I invite other artists making artwork on this land to join me in making an Indigenous Land Acknowledgment and Reparations Pledge. For more information visit #IndigenousLandAcknowledgmentAndReparationsPledge, #ILAARP or www.MeganDrivingHawk.com.
25% of my profit from artwork sold during this exhibition will be donated to the Center for Native People and the Environment.
*Wóphila (thank you) Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka for the blessing of becoming a mother and for the path as an artist. Wóphila to my thiwáhe (family) as without you this work and exhibition would not have come together. Lastly, wóphila to my support system of fellow artists and friends who have encouraged me along the way.
Megan Driving Hawk
from the series Simultaneous Memories and Begging Poetics
8x10, Archival Inkjet prints on Metallic Luster Paper
$175 each (Limited Edition, contact the artist directly with inquiries)
2020-2021
IG: MDrivingHawk00 E: MeganDrivingHawk@gmail.com WEB: www.MeganDrivingHawk.com
Simultaneous Memories are photographic double exposures that represent the unearthing of my subconscious and conflicting childhood memories that arise as I raise my child today. In this practice, I make at least one double exposure a day. Most of the photographs have been made while out on a walk, run, or hike with my son. Since his birth, my relationship to the land has changed. I no longer run for personal records but instead to show him how to be a good human and loving ancestor.
Begging Poetics are poems made from a daily writing practice. These poems portray present day reflections on my experience of early motherhood and postpartum in the pandemic. Although I have been writing poetry since I was a little girl at my desk underneath my bedroom window, this daily practice didn’t start until the day my son was born. The poetry here was written anytime between February 1, 2020, and February 1, 2021.
Together, each body of work demonstrates how present-day choices can heal the past and the future. Each concentrate on different eras of linear time yet are displayed in a nonlinear timeline. Choose your own adventure by starting at either end. And look out for the hidden poem-gems woven throughout. If you stay long enough, you might just find a secret, yourself, or a new perspective.
The artwork in this exhibition was made on O’odham, Yavapai, Akimel O’odham, Hohokam, Pueblos, and Ndee/Nnēē (Western Apache) lands in present day Arizona. This information was gathered by using the @NativeLandNet app.
I invite other artists making artwork on this land to join me in making an Indigenous Land Acknowledgment and Reparations Pledge. For more information visit #IndigenousLandAcknowledgmentAndReparationsPledge, #ILAARP or www.MeganDrivingHawk.com.
25% of my profit from artwork sold during this exhibition will be donated to the Center for Native People and the Environment.
*Wóphila (thank you) Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka for the blessing of becoming a mother and for the path as an artist. Wóphila to my thiwáhe (family) as without you this work and exhibition would not have come together. Lastly, wóphila to my support system of fellow artists and friends who have encouraged me along the way.
Megan Driving Hawk
from the series Simultaneous Memories and Begging Poetics
8x10, Archival Inkjet prints on Metallic Luster Paper
$175 each (Limited Edition, contact the artist directly with inquiries)
2020-2021
IG: MDrivingHawk00 E: MeganDrivingHawk@gmail.com WEB: www.MeganDrivingHawk.com
Install images coming soon.