On The Grave of a Giant Painting

In Minnesota there are many beautiful lakes. Some of these are natural wild rice environments. There is a struggle in MN between energy companies and environmental activists to protect the water. This imagery is the result of multiple events. One being that I learned to use a pole to steer and push a canoe, a method used by harvesters of wild rice. Another being the ongoing pipeline protests. And finally, a nod to the image of Paul Bunyon who symbolizes the deforestation of tribal homelands and the erasure of the real story of displacement that occurred as a result. The landscape is a recreation of "the narrows" in Red Lake, where I am from. This landscape can also be seen on the Land O' Lakes butter package. Patrick Desjarlait was an artist from Red Lake who designed the logo in another era. recently the butter company decided to remove the image of Mia the butter maiden from the box and leave the land in the design. I wanted to make a nod to this great artist as well as the events surrounding removal of images of Native people from corporate logos.