Field Exercise #3: Melanie Yazzie “Geographies of Memory” UNM Art Museum

For our third field exercise, our group visited the University of New Mexico Art Museum to see the exhibit by Melanie Yazzie, entitled “Geographies of Memory.”  We approached the exhibit rhetorically, with Christina addressing how the exhibit uses pathos, Melisa how ethos is used, and Lauren examining logos.

Pathos:  In Melanie Yazzie’s exhibit “Geographies of Memory” began with a placard reflecting on the idea of connection, highlighting a quote by Irit Rogoff from “Terra Infirma: Geography’s Visual Culture,” who said, “How can the doubly inhabited terrains with their often conflicting histories and claims be mapped so that one does not dominate and erase the other, does not become the singular history of the place?”  I believe that Yazzie’s work was at least partially an attempt to answer this question.  The artwork’s general style forged a sense of connectedness.  Many of the paintings and sculptures were symmetrical, and beyond that, her art contained almost no hard edges, favoring instead lots of circular and rounded lines.  Many images within individual paintings also flowed into or overlapped each other, giving us a sense that all things are related and connected.  Often anatomy was depicted through naturalistic imagery, so that humans, animals, and plants were also connected.  This large theme of connectedness was a very compassionate way to answer the opening question about shared land and cultural differences.

Ethos: Much of Yazzie’s work stems from the Navajo/Diné culture. This is an important focus in her work not just representing the culture, but also the space it emcompasses, and how it represents her childhood. In many of her artwork she includes animals, and earthy colors. I think the use of these colors, and animals gives us a good sense of what her childhood was like. In her monotype called “Wandering” she presents a very eery way of showing landscape. The image is comprised of a deer like animal, a hand that swoops overhead, and what seems a complete layering of different plant like images that work to create a green contrast. In addition, many of Yazzie’s work is produced through monotypes that are drawn or painted on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. This is how that layering quality is created. From this particular monotype we are able to get a sense of how Yazzie’s credibility within her own culture, memory, and experiences  translates to her art.

Logos:  Many of the pieces forged a connection between anatomy and nature, such as a painting of a woman surrounded by several leaves.  One leaf was imposed on her body to resemble a ribcage, while another was placed to look like a uterus.  There were also several pieces that used maps or pages from old American textbooks, which appeared starkly Western and logical in the gallery of Native American symbols.  One of these pieces had a page entitled “Cowboys and Indians,” a relic of old, racist American logic.  The artist painted over the text with images of corn and leaves.  In these pieces, Yazzie drew attention to flawed Western logos and contrasted it with the symbols of her culture.  The exhibit centered on the artist’s heritage and experiences, and in doing so, posited a different logos than many visitors are used to.