CEREMONY FOR BEING WITH, NO. 1 / CEREMONY FOR BEING WITH SALMON RIVER,, 2023
Found wood scrap, mineral and carbon pigments site-specifically foraged and ground into paint
5 1/2 x 12 in
14 x 30.5 cm
Ceremonies for Being With, now offered through form & concept gallery, is a painting made with site-foraged minerals on found plywood at the spot where the wood was washed ashore by the winter tides, at the mouth of the Salmon River on Nechesni lands (colonially known as Cascade Head, Oregon). Produced during an artist residency at the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology in February 2023, the plywood board that holds the paint is available for sale, while the pigments are offered for “rent” only, by the year, to be washed off and returned to the Salmon River when the rental period ends. All rent funds will be directed to the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology to be offered as stipends for the Indigenous Place Keepers artist residents.
The painting is accompanied by a recording of text, written and read by Tilke Elkins. Listen here.