Water Memory
Cara Romero, Chemehuevi / American, born 1977
Chemehuevi
Great Basin
2015
Archival pigment print on Canson Legacy Platine Photo Paper
A/P 3/3
Image: 39 13/16 × 39 5/8 in. (101.2 × 100.7 cm)
Sheet: 43 3/4 × 44 1/8 in. (111.1 × 112 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased with a gift from the Douglas Wise ’59 Memorial Arts Fund
2020.38.1
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
21st century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Native American
Native American: Great Basin
Not on view
Inscriptions
Signed, lower right, in black ink: Cara Romero; numbered, lower left, in black ink: AP 3/3; inscribed, lower center, in black ink: "WATER MEMORY"
Label
In this image, two figures—male and female Pueblo corn dancers—are suspended and still within a drowned landscape. The photograph references ongoing flooding in the aftermath of the 2011 Las Conchas wildfire, and while the scene is frightening, the blue-green hue of the water simultaneously indicates a sense of tranquility. Water Memory is a part of a larger series of underwater photographs that explore water’s capacity to hold memory, trauma, and life. Artist Cara 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 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 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 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
Exhibition History
This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Luise and Morton Kaish Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 20- July 24, 2022.
Provenance
The artist, Cara Romero Photography, Santa Fe, New Mexico; sold to present collection, 2020.
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