South Dakota Arts Council

South Dakota Arts Council

Pierre, SD

The SDAC is a state government grantmaking agency supported by the State of South Dakota, through the Dept. of Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Message
Wedding Dress Burial by Jill Kokesh Image: "This haunting image represents the end of a union and a new beginning. This is a photo taken of a woman’s wedding dress before it’s buried in the land where she and her husband managed the family farm. The image provokes discussion concerning traditional ideas of marriage beginning on the prairie in the early 1900s versus the concept of marriage in modern society. The image was shot with a medium format, rangefinder camera with black and white film. The film was traditionally developed, and gelatin silver prints were produced in the darkroom."
"This haunting image represents the end of a union and a new beginning. This is a photo taken of a woman’s wedding dress before it’s buried in the land where she and her husband managed the family farm. The image provokes discussion concerning traditional ideas of marriage beginning on the prairie in the early 1900s versus the concept of marriage in modern society. The image was shot with a medium format, rangefinder camera with black and white film. The film was traditionally developed, and gelatin silver prints were produced in the darkroom."
  • Jill Kokesh
  • Wedding Dress Burial, 2000
  • Gelatin silver print
  • Framed: 28.5 x 28.5 in (72.39 x 72.39 cm)

Collection: Art For State Buildings x

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Jill Kokesh was born and raised in Ft. Pierre, SD, and began her career as a photojournalist covering politics and local news. The majority of Jill Kokesh’s photographic work focuses on the land of the Northern Great Plains and its people. Her images depict rural people’s relationships in partnership with the land, the natural environment – loved, hated, fought, overcome, revered, or submitted to – with themes of farming and ranching, survival, preservation, sense of place, and cultural heritage of the Northern Great Plains prairie. Jill is an art instructor at
T. F. Riggs High School in Pierre.

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