Acolla | Griefen pleased to present a solo exhibit by Gina Adams, paintings and sculptures by Merritt Johnson and a recent work by Erica Lord at the Living Trust for the Arts in SoHo. With the gallery currently shuttered please take advantage of this 360 degree interactive virtual visit of the exhibition produced by the Living Trust for the Arts.
Gina Adams’ newest body of work, Maajiigin wa’aw akiing miinawaa, envisions future generations as “the way the world begins again and again” (June Jordan). As a descendent of both Indigenous and colonial Americans, Adams draws upon her ancestors’ experiences in assimilation boarding schools for this new series of child size, antique quilts.
Merritt Johnson’s paintings depict the persistence of land and water. Johnson writes: “The land does not belong to us…we exist because of land and water’s ability and choice to sustain us.” Similarly, Johnson’s sculptures speak to healing from and resistance to the continuing violence towards Indigenous peoples, animals and the land.
Erica Lord ‘s new work Breast Cancer Burden Strap DNA MicroArray Analysis, is from an ongoing series of beaded sculptures. The strands of colored beads mimic the microarray of DNA strands derived from testing that assesses genetic predispositions. Like earlier bodies of work, this sculpture addresses the government-mandated blood qualifications of Indigeneity which are in opposition to her own mixed race identification. Lord writes “My experience may be multiple or mixed, but I am not incomplete in any location.”
For additional information on the artists please visit www.acollagriefen.com
