Selma Lasiloo
I create in order to envision worlds of gentleness, empathy, and compassion. I am from the Pueblo of Zuni, and my family are traditional Zuni inlay jewelers. Although I have been trained as a jeweler, the work I make differs greatly from the work of the other artists in my family. I want to be as genuine as possible in the sensibilities I present through my artwork and how they truly reflect the values of softness and cuteness I believe are important for our humanness and interconnectivity.
Never a Relative Too Small, Never an Ancestor Out of Reach
Never a Relative Too Small, Never an Ancestor Out of Reach references mycelium networks as a metaphor for community building, collaboration, communication, and a way to acknowledge relationships with the unseen relatives we share our space with. It also draws on my Pueblo heritage and Indigenous values of kinship and care and how we are always connected, even while we’re apart.
Honoring the deeply spiritual sense of community our fungus relatives model for us, this interactive installation was made with foraged and found objects from the Midtown Site that have been transformed into a series of playful mushroom characters. These characters are hidden within the installation for you to find and take if you desire.
Understanding the balance we hold between the physical world and the spiritual world is important to fully realizing our kinship potential and building the strongest communities with all our relatives. It is incredibly important for us to navigate the pandemic together from a place of deep kinship so we can take care of each other and take care of all the beings we share our space with.
This event is part of the Culture Connects Midtown Project. To learn more visit cultureconnects.site.
© Santa Fe Art Institute / Santa Fe, New Mexico / 