Now-a-days ignorance is in vogue and trends are the hottest things to mindlessly follow. What was the way of early American pioneers to classify my ancestors to dehumanize them and project an ideology of our character, has now transcended to a pop c

Now-a-days ignorance is in vogue and trends are the hottest things to mindlessly follow. What was the way of early American pioneers to classify my ancestors to dehumanize them and project an ideology of our character, has now transcended to a pop culture term of being “totally badass man.” “Savage” is what I'm talking about. What a time to be alive. The sting that word has is felt through the genetic memories that flow through my blood. As I studied photography in Everett, Washington, the term was being thrown around left and right. Savage this, savage that. I watched and listened to these non-natives talking about being savage. This body of work came from a sentence another student in class said. Savage in the studio. A sudden visual came into my head of a little Edward Curtis lazily dressing up Indians to get his glory of conquering the west photographically. The fact that I'm the type of person who would have been called this by those same types of kids in class saying it, it felt like a perfect time to explore what bringing a contemporary savage into a studio would look like. In Curtis fashion, I too was heedless with my war paint and only getting the front to look more “Indian”. I aimed for the Eurocentric idea of what a wild savage would look like and juxtapose that to a more cultured portrait emotion. I expressed heavy emotions and played with irony by conveying an openness while portraying savage. Through my photography, I created these caricatures to poke fun of this “savage” that does not exist in reality. The characters, one of a warrior, the other of a medicine man, are the emotions I felt being around non-natives calling out savage. One is of angst, the other is to guide and heal. The characters are within me always and found visual representation to express the ideocracy that is American culture.

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Spirit-world-makeup-190-1-copy.jpg
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Spirit-world-makeup-202-1-copy.jpg
Spirit-world-makeup-078-1-copy.jpg
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IMG_7643-1 copy.jpg
IMG_7686-1 copy.jpg
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IMG_7753-1 copy.jpg
 Now-a-days ignorance is in vogue and trends are the hottest things to mindlessly follow. What was the way of early American pioneers to classify my ancestors to dehumanize them and project an ideology of our character, has now transcended to a pop c
Spirit-world-makeup-131-1-copy.jpg
Spirit-world-makeup-190-1-copy.jpg
Spirit-world-makeup-192-1-copy.jpg
Spirit-world-makeup-202-1-copy.jpg
Spirit-world-makeup-078-1-copy.jpg
IMG_7555-1 copy.jpg
IMG_7643-1 copy.jpg
IMG_7686-1 copy.jpg
IMG_7690-1 copy.jpg
IMG_7753-1 copy.jpg

Now-a-days ignorance is in vogue and trends are the hottest things to mindlessly follow. What was the way of early American pioneers to classify my ancestors to dehumanize them and project an ideology of our character, has now transcended to a pop culture term of being “totally badass man.” “Savage” is what I'm talking about. What a time to be alive. The sting that word has is felt through the genetic memories that flow through my blood. As I studied photography in Everett, Washington, the term was being thrown around left and right. Savage this, savage that. I watched and listened to these non-natives talking about being savage. This body of work came from a sentence another student in class said. Savage in the studio. A sudden visual came into my head of a little Edward Curtis lazily dressing up Indians to get his glory of conquering the west photographically. The fact that I'm the type of person who would have been called this by those same types of kids in class saying it, it felt like a perfect time to explore what bringing a contemporary savage into a studio would look like. In Curtis fashion, I too was heedless with my war paint and only getting the front to look more “Indian”. I aimed for the Eurocentric idea of what a wild savage would look like and juxtapose that to a more cultured portrait emotion. I expressed heavy emotions and played with irony by conveying an openness while portraying savage. Through my photography, I created these caricatures to poke fun of this “savage” that does not exist in reality. The characters, one of a warrior, the other of a medicine man, are the emotions I felt being around non-natives calling out savage. One is of angst, the other is to guide and heal. The characters are within me always and found visual representation to express the ideocracy that is American culture.

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