UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
Las Vegas, Nevada
We believe everyone deserves access to art that challenges our understanding of the present and inspires us to create a future that makes space for us all.
MessageMikayla Whitmore
"Sunrise Sunset" (2022)
Two framed giclee metallic prints
Courtesy of the artist.
Artist Statement:
Sunrise / Sunset is a ongoing documentation of a 12 mile stretch of gravel road called Christmas Tree Pass and a long standing western tradition of decorating the juniper and pinyons throughout an area considered sacred by ten Yuamn speaking tribes, as well as the Hopi and Chemehuevi Paiute, disregarding the wellbeing of the trees and animals that call this landscape home.
Over a series of three days in January 2022, I searched for and documented a small selection of vandalized trees in the area. Coming across this particulary Juniper, the breeze gently blew as red tinsel left the stiffled pines and sored into the sky towards Avi Kwa Ame, Spirit Mountain.
All three days, I came back to this tree and stayed with it through sundown, and by the final evening amongst the cold, enveloping dark sky, removed all the trash binding it down and promising to return. A few weeks later I visited the juniper and documented it again. As I was amongst my own nostalgia, a gentle breeze blew amongst the pines.
- Created: 2022