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She’s Everywhere Now is a collection of photographs and video that frame the grief of the violent and unexpected passing of my mother Raven Singlefeather as an opportunity to find joy in living. My mother was killed in an accident in a transport vehicle in 2018 at 63 years old. After a criminal investigation and then a civil suit brought by our family, I have been retracing how the healthcare system and our government failed her.
Some people believe that for the first year after a loved one passes, their spirit remains strongest and most present with those they leave behind. This was my experience after my mother, Raven Singlefeather, transitioned to what some indigenous cultures call “The Blue Road.” I could hear her voice and I felt her presence during the first months especially. One of the many gifts of this grief was that I was able to tap into my senses in a way I had never done before. I dedicated as much time as I could just observing in nature; walking, sitting, listening, and really seeing life.
Since her passing, nearly every time I leave my house, I find at least one single feather upon my path and take a photograph. I continue to document each feather as I find them, like little prayers, and file them in the library of ones and zeros on my hard drive. I imagine this practice as my way to hold space for her in this physical world. This collection of feathers is ephemeral - like our bodies and time.
She’s Everywhere Now also is comprised of images and videos documenting the process of her unexpected death, the evidence of the case filed, and moments of joy experienced by myself and my family before and after her death. In this project, I offer my humble meditation on grief and the importance of finding beauty in the everyday.
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This body of work is made up of archival inkjet prints and c-prints, single-channel videos, and accompanying texts. The photographic works include a collection of 100-200 8.5x11" archival inkjet prints of collected feathers which I arrange salon style covering the wall. Other photographs include archival inkjet prints ranging from 8.5x11" - 40x30" documenting my family's post-death experiences. Also included in the exhibition are projected single-channel videos (some with sound) and accompanying texts.