Stefan Gonzales

Spiral Jetty, January 1st 2026, 7:03 am, 2026

dye sublimation aluminum prints

12 x 18 in

Framed: 20 x 20 in

Edition. 1/3

$1,800

This image documents Gonzales visit to Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" (1970), a 1,500-foot-long formation in the Great Salt Lake made from over 6,000 tons of displaced dirt and black basalt rocks. The work, alongside other touchstones of land art like Michael Heizer’s Double Negative (1969), has what Gonzales calls a remarkable “mythological imprint” that obscures the history and preexisting significance of the site. Over the last several years, Gonzales’s practice has focused on decolonizing and feminizing the aesthetics of 1960s–70s land art, which is strongly associated “heroic” masculinity and rugged individualism.

“They were talking about big, open, free geologic locations,” Gonzales says, “but what about the land that Spiral Jetty sits on? Who occupied the land first? That land had not really been ‘empty’ in the past.”

About the artist

Stefan Gonzales

Stefan Gonzales is an Indigenous, nonbinary artist, curator, and arts educator based in Seattle. Through photography, video, sculpture, and performance, their work emphasizes the need to be more mindful of the materials and resources that shape our everyday lives. Their work often incorporates construction materials — such as stones, dirt, lumber, and, recently, rock salt — that are typically considered “raw” athough they have already been extracted and refined. Their photos and installations draw attention to the mining, transportation, and distribution systems that involve the land and its people. Their work narrates the ongoing story of the land and the persistent struggles for safety, health, and sovereignty amongst all Indigenous peoples.

Gonzales is an adjunct professor at the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts. They received a BFA from Cornish in 2016 and MFA from the University of Washington in 2020. In 2025, Gonzales received the Artists Trust: Lillian Miller Foundation Fellowship for Trans* and Indigiqueer Artists. Their recent exhibitions include solo exhibitions at The Vestibule and Specialist Gallery in Seattle, WA, in 2025. Their work has also been exhibited throughout the region at the Frye Art Museum, Das Schaufenster Gallery, the Henry Art Gallery, Melanie Flood Projects in Portland, OR, and Well-Well Projects in Portland, OR. In 2025 as a guest curator, Gonzales selected New York-based artist Christoper M Tandy for their first solo exhibition in Seattle. Stefan has participated in residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont (’24), Signal Fire Arts, Portland, OR, and the Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA.