Indigenous Futurisms

Nicole Neidhardt, Diné (Navajo)

Beam Me Up, Asdzą́ą́ Anilí; 2020

hand-cut mirror mylar, sand from Diné Bikeyah, light

54 in. x 40 in. x 84 in.

Nicole Neidhardt, Diné (Navajo)

Beam Me Up, Asdzą́ą́ Anilí; 2020

hand-cut mirror mylar, sand from Diné Bikeyah, light

54 in. x 40 in. x 84 in.

This installation is part of the LAND BACK Exhibition at Open Space Arts Society on Lkwungen Territory (now known as Victoria). It was curated by Eli Hirtle and features work by myself, Lacie Burning, Chandra Melting Tallow, and Whess Harman.

Artist Statement:

Indigenous Futurisms and Land Back weave together in my installation, Beam Me Up, Asdzą́ą́ Anilí. The installation is a Diné Transporter Pad, stemming from my love of Star Trek, that holds a portrait of one of my ancestors Asdzą́ą́ Anilí. They were alive during the Diné (Navajo) Long Walk in the 1860’s and escaped from the U.S. Army to return to our ancestral homelands. As a leader, protector, medicine person, and matriarch from my community, Asdzą́ą́ Anilí embodies the strength, power, and deep connection to Land that is innate to Land Protectors. Asdzą́ą́ Anilí is a Time Travelling Matriarch and Land Protector who exists in a temporal realm slightly different than our own, coming to support Indigenous Land Defenders in moments of need. This transporter pad acts as a portal, to transport you into a pocket of Diné time and space where you can truly experience the Glittering World we live in.

The installation is made of mirror mylar, a glittering, reflective material that bounces light and dances to the slightest of air currents. The walls of the transporter are hand-cut stencils that feature Asdzą́ą́ Anilí’s portrait, a Chief blanket design to acknowledge their role as a matriarch in our community, and the words Dadílzinii Jidísin (Protect the Sacred) overlayed with a corn stalk design. The light and shadows activate the transporter as much as the earth from my home community, Round Rock, Arizona. In my interactions with Time Travelling Matriarchs, Land Protectors, and Diné stories, I have learned the Land is the original time machine. It holds our stories in the rocks, soil, and waters. This is why Land Back is so deeply important. The Land holds our Ancestors, our kinship relations, our histories, our stories, our bodies, our trauma, our dreams, and our futures. Beam Me Up, Asdzą́ą́ Anilí carves out some time, some space, for us to dream of these Indigenous Futures so they can be put into motion.

Nicole Neidhardt, Diné (Navajo)

Beam Me Up, Asdzą́ą́ Anilí; 2020

hand-cut mirror mylar, sand from Diné Bikeyah, light

54 in. x 40 in. x 84 in.

Nicole Neidhardt, Diné (Navajo)

Beam Me Up, Asdzą́ą́ Anilí; 2020

hand-cut mirror mylar, sand from Diné Bikeyah, light

54 in. x 40 in. x 84 in.

Nicole Neidhardt

Diné Basket Portal, 2019

mirror mylar, sand, light

installation size variable; mylar portal 5 ft diameter x 4 ft height

Nicole Neidhardt

Diné Basket Portal, 2019

mirror mylar, sand, light

installation size variable; mylar portal 5 ft diameter x 4 ft height

Nicole Neidhardt

Diné Basket Portal, 2019

mirror mylar, sand, light

installation size variable; mylar portal 5 ft diameter x 4 ft height

Nicole Neidhardt

Diné Basket Portal, 2019

mirror mylar, sand, light

installation size variable; mylar portal 5 ft diameter x 4 ft height

Nicole Neidhardt

Diné Basket Portal, 2019

mirror mylar, sand, light

installation size variable; mylar portal 5 ft diameter x 4 ft height

Nicole Neidhardt

Diné Basket Portal, 2019

mirror mylar, sand, light

installation size variable; mylar portal 5 ft diameter x 4 ft height

Slipstream; hand-cut mirror mylar, wire; February 2020.

sizes variable installation – All hanging mylar pieces approx. 8 ft tall

3 mylar panels = 3 ft x 8 ft.

Mylar portrait of Futuristic Matriarch = 5 ft x 7 ft.

Mylar portrait of Mom/First Woman = 4 ft. x 11 ft.

This installation, Slipstream, depicts a Diné creation story about a great flood that forces the Diné to leave their current world. I’ve adapted the story as an allegory for the current climate crisis, how taking too much from the earth is causing dire consequences for our world. The story, as told in mylar, is itself a slipstream, bringing the ancient past into the present and projecting it into the future. The two portraits in the corner of the installation are a temporal eddy in the slipstream, the top one being a portrait of a Futuristic Matriarch/Land Defender and the second portrait that sits behind her, is my mother as First Woman.

Slipstream; hand-cut mirror mylar, wire; February 2020.

sizes variable installation – All hanging mylar pieces approx. 8 ft tall

3 mylar panels = 3 ft x 8 ft.

Mylar portrait of Futuristic Matriarch = 5 ft x 7 ft.

Mylar portrait of Mom/First Woman = 4 ft. x 11 ft.

This installation, Slipstream, depicts a Diné creation story about a great flood that forces the Diné to leave their current world. I’ve adapted the story as an allegory for the current climate crisis, how taking too much from the earth is causing dire consequences for our world. The story, as told in mylar, is itself a slipstream, bringing the ancient past into the present and projecting it into the future. The two portraits in the corner of the installation are a temporal eddy in the slipstream, the top one being a portrait of a Futuristic Matriarch/Land Defender and the second portrait that sits behind her, is my mother as First Woman.

Slipstream; hand-cut mirror mylar, wire; February 2020.

sizes variable installation – All hanging mylar pieces approx. 8 ft tall

3 mylar panels = 3 ft x 8 ft.

Mylar portrait of Futuristic Matriarch = 5 ft x 7 ft.

Mylar portrait of Mom/First Woman = 4 ft. x 11 ft.

This installation, Slipstream, depicts a Diné creation story about a great flood that forces the Diné to leave their current world. I’ve adapted the story as an allegory for the current climate crisis, how taking too much from the earth is causing dire consequences for our world. The story, as told in mylar, is itself a slipstream, bringing the ancient past into the present and projecting it into the future. The two portraits in the corner of the installation are a temporal eddy in the slipstream, the top one being a portrait of a Futuristic Matriarch/Land Defender and the second portrait that sits behind her, is my mother as First Woman.

Slipstream; hand-cut mirror mylar, wire; February 2020.

sizes variable installation – All hanging mylar pieces approx. 8 ft tall

3 mylar panels = 3 ft x 8 ft.

Mylar portrait of Futuristic Matriarch = 5 ft x 7 ft.

Mylar portrait of Mom/First Woman = 4 ft. x 11 ft.

This installation, Slipstream, depicts a Diné creation story about a great flood that forces the Diné to leave their current world. I’ve adapted the story as an allegory for the current climate crisis, how taking too much from the earth is causing dire consequences for our world. The story, as told in mylar, is itself a slipstream, bringing the ancient past into the present and projecting it into the future. The two portraits in the corner of the installation are a temporal eddy in the slipstream, the top one being a portrait of a Futuristic Matriarch/Land Defender and the second portrait that sits behind her, is my mother as First Woman.

This work was created during my time at the Contingencies of Care Residency, summer 2020, hosted by OCAD U, Toronto Biennal of Art, and BUSH Gallery.

This series of portraits are of my misán, my grandmother, as a young woman. The digital and mirror mylar versions of her portrait are my way of honouring and showing care for who she was as a person, as a leader and as a matriarch to our family, community, and to the Navajo People.

In this work, she embodies the role of a Matriarch of the Future (which she was). I've imagined her here as a time travelling caretaker of the land, water, plants, animals, and our families and communities. She was a powerful person who dedicated herself to our home and our future as Diné people. She is a Matriarch of the Future because her love, strength, and breathtaking care transcends space, time, and place. She doesn't need a time machine to transport these qualities, these strengths, this protection.... because the land is her time machine. The land as time machine carries her through multiple temporalities, possible futures, and alternate realities. That is why both these pieces are in collaboration with the land, and with the juniper tree specifically.

This work was created during my time at the Contingencies of Care Residency, summer 2020, hosted by OCAD U, Toronto Biennal of Art, and BUSH Gallery.

This series of portraits are of my misán, my grandmother, as a young woman. The digital and mirror mylar versions of her portrait are my way of honouring and showing care for who she was as a person, as a leader and as a matriarch to our family, community, and to the Navajo People.

In this work, she embodies the role of a Matriarch of the Future (which she was). I've imagined her here as a time travelling caretaker of the land, water, plants, animals, and our families and communities. She was a powerful person who dedicated herself to our home and our future as Diné people. She is a Matriarch of the Future because her love, strength, and breathtaking care transcends space, time, and place. She doesn't need a time machine to transport these qualities, these strengths, this protection.... because the land is her time machine. The land as time machine carries her through multiple temporalities, possible futures, and alternate realities. That is why both these pieces are in collaboration with the land, and with the juniper tree specifically.

This work was created during my time at the Contingencies of Care Residency, summer 2020, hosted by OCAD U, Toronto Biennal of Art, and BUSH Gallery.

This series of portraits are of my misán, my grandmother, as a young woman. The digital and mirror mylar versions of her portrait are my way of honouring and showing care for who she was as a person, as a leader and as a matriarch to our family, community, and to the Navajo People.

In this work, she embodies the role of a Matriarch of the Future (which she was). I've imagined her here as a time travelling caretaker of the land, water, plants, animals, and our families and communities. She was a powerful person who dedicated herself to our home and our future as Diné people. She is a Matriarch of the Future because her love, strength, and breathtaking care transcends space, time, and place. She doesn't need a time machine to transport these qualities, these strengths, this protection.... because the land is her time machine. The land as time machine carries her through multiple temporalities, possible futures, and alternate realities. That is why both these pieces are in collaboration with the land, and with the juniper tree specifically.

This work was created during my time at the Contingencies of Care Residency, summer 2020, hosted by OCAD U, Toronto Biennal of Art, and BUSH Gallery.

This series of portraits are of my misán, my grandmother, as a young woman. The digital and mirror mylar versions of her portrait are my way of honouring and showing care for who she was as a person, as a leader and as a matriarch to our family, community, and to the Navajo People.

In this work, she embodies the role of a Matriarch of the Future (which she was). I've imagined her here as a time travelling caretaker of the land, water, plants, animals, and our families and communities. She was a powerful person who dedicated herself to our home and our future as Diné people. She is a Matriarch of the Future because her love, strength, and breathtaking care transcends space, time, and place. She doesn't need a time machine to transport these qualities, these strengths, this protection.... because the land is her time machine. The land as time machine carries her through multiple temporalities, possible futures, and alternate realities. That is why both these pieces are in collaboration with the land, and with the juniper tree specifically.