Oil Boom

Cara Romero, Chemehuevi / American, born 1977
Chemehuevi
Great Basin

Share

See Previous Article See next Article

2015

Archival pigment print

AP 1/3

Image: 40 3/16 × 39 5/8 in. (102 × 100.6 cm)

Sheet: 44 3/16 × 44 1/8 in. (112.2 × 112 cm)

Frame: 41 1/4 × 40 3/4 × 2 1/4 in. (104.8 × 103.5 × 5.7 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Sondra and Charles Gilman, Jr. Foundation Fund

© Cara Romero. All Rights Reserved.

2019.78.2

Geography

Place Made: United States, North America

Object Name

Photograph

Research Area

Native American

Native American: Great Basin

Photograph

Not on view

Inscriptions

Signed, lower right, in black ink: Cara Romero; numbered, lower left, in black ink: AP 1/3; inscribed, lower center, in black ink: "OIL BOOM"

Label

The central figure in Cara Romero’s Oil Boom floats with arms outstretched, suspended in a sea of oil as if unexpectedly dropped into and tasked with navigating this environment. The sepia color of the underwater photograph thickens its appearance. On the horizon above, a horde of pumpjacks form a dystopian landscape. Oil Boom is a part of a larger series of underwater photographs, Water Memories, that explore water’s capacity to hold memory, trauma, and life. Romero writes: "Water Memories are photography dreamscapes dealing with Native American relationships to water, the forces of man and of Mother Nature. They are individual explorations of space, memory, and diverse Indigenous narratives that are both terrifying and peaceful."


From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art


Course History

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2020

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2020

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2020

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2021

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2021

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2021

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2021

ANTH 55, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Spring 2021

ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022

GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022

ANTH 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin6, Spring 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022

ANTH 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2022

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Spring 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Writing 5.24, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Fall 2023

Writing 5.25, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Fall 2023

Writing 5.32, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Winter 2024

Writing 5.33, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Winter 2024

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Geography 21.01, International Studies 18.01, Global Health and Society, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Anthropology 73.01, Main Currents in Anthropology, Sienna Craig, Spring 2024

Public Policy 41.01, Writing & Speaking Public Policy, Julie Kalish, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Luise and Morton Kaish Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–April 19, 2022.

Provenance

The artist, Cara Romeo Photography, Santa Fe, New Mexico; sold to the present collection, 2019.

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu