Hello! I stumbled upon your "heal the land" piece, and I find it very beautiful. I saw in one of your asks that you had used references, and I was wondering how you approach searching for clothing references especially from indigenous cultures. I thought I'd ask since it can sometimes be difficult to ascertain whether a photo of cultural clothing is authentic or not. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the question! To be quite honest, I’m still learning how to do this myself, especially with indigenous cultures that I’m not particularly in proximity with. My clothing research process is very long. For the Turtle Island Women piece, I spent a combined total of ten hours on research stretched between four days, and I’m still not quite satisfied with it. (And I’m part of one of the communities I represented!)
When looking for accurate references, I look for online historical archives that are curated in coordination with the nations/tribes/pueblos they represent. These archives are usually accessible through reputable museum websites or official tribal/nation/city/county historical sites.
Textile archives are my favorite to browse, since they have high quality images of real life clothing preserved from different time periods. There’s a larger number of items preserved from the 1800’s compared to most pre or early contact items, but you might be able to find paintings, photos, or items preserved from before the reservation era, depending on the regions you’re looking at.
Before any of that, I look for indigenous artists that are leading pre-contact textile recreation and archival textile restoration projects. I prefer this approach because I get to learn about the historical and cultural significance of each piece directly from their communities instead of relying on sources that are distorted from settler perspectives. I usually start by just asking my friends that are from the tribe/nation/pueblo that I’m interested in depicting:
a.) If it’s appropriate for me specifically to depict their culture in certain contexts
b.) Where to find accurate information about their culture
c.) What artists to look for in their community that are already doing something similar
If I’m not close with someone from the tribe/nation/pueblo that I want to depict, I usually just won’t. Alternatively, I’ll ask my friends from neighboring reservations/communities if they have friends from the tribe/nation/pueblo in question that I could reach out to.
Clothing/Textile research for your art is gonna take a lot of time and effort digging for sources, and even more time doing the background research to start looking for sources. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, and having realistic expectations is important. The more disconnected you are from a culture, the harder it’s going to be to even know where to start your reference search.
I hope this was helpful, and thank you for the lovely ask!
RESIST antiblackness
REVOLT against empire
REMATRIATE the land
This Juneteenth I wanted to explore what African-American liberation would look like on Turtle Island beyond reparations. I took inspiration from my Gullah-Geechee ancestors who maintained their indigenous African lifeways and culture in the face of chattel slavery and cultural genocide.
This painting includes a character of mine who I lovingly refer to as Sister Liberation. She represents a continuum of Black women’s militant resistance against misogynoir and colonialism outside of motherhood. I call her Sister Liberation because she “ain’t nobody’s mama”.
Pictured here is Sister Liberation adorned with cowrie shell jewelry and her signature rifle (adorned with the Akan Adinkra symbols for justice, freedom, and wisdom from the past). In her left hand, she holds stalks of wild rice. In front of her, a Gullah-Geechee sweetgrass basket is adorned with Aya, the Adinkra symbol for survival and endurance. The basket is filled with indigo leaves and okra.
Prints and posters of this piece are now available on my printful!
Happy Juneteenth, y’all! If you like this piece, consider purchasing a print or poster of it from my printful. Each sale helps keep me afloat as a full-time university student. I am a double Critical Race/Ethnic Studies and Electrical Engineering Major with research concentrations in racialized labor exploitation in technology development and sustainable technology development. Thank you for supporting my art and education! ❤️🖤💚
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