We Were Then, We Are Now

The Mothership II by Laurie Steelink

Laurie Steelink was born a member of the Akimel O’otham tribe or the Gila River community in central and southern Arizona. However, at this time, the U.S. Government was still pushing efforts to conduct Indigenous assimilation through adoption programs that placed Indigenous infants into white families. Steelink was one of those children. This forced distance from her birth family and Indigenous culture made it hard for Steelink to have one true identity. Art was her way of understanding herself and her origins.


The shapeshifter represents this life of trial and error and all the various sides of a person. Her experimental and contemporary art forms reflect her journey through life, reforming pieces of her individuality. At the age of forty, Steelink reunited with her birth mother and relatives from the Akimel O’otham tribe. This reunion made her realize how important her art can be to others. These sculptures, like The Mothership II and her 3-dimensional shapeshifter, The Mothership (Shapeshifter) are her ways to express her stories and experiences to heal. She never strove to have perfect art. If anything, she believes that “some of the best work is made from accidents... the more accidents the better.” Like life, we should not force ourselves to live on this one path. We should engage in all facets of life to understand every part of ourselves. With all of her art, she hopes audiences will find comfort, heal, and form a sense of belonging as they connect with the art. So, what do you see? How might this figure relate to you? Carry those thoughts as you continue through the exhibit



What do you see? A fox? Maybe a bug? You decide, it is a shapeshifter! Laurie Steelink’s artworks are always open to interpretation. Identity for Steelink has been hard to grasp after decades of separation from the Akimel O’odham tribe. So she pursues art to explore and rediscover herself and her history. “Some of the best [art] is made from accidents...the more accidents the better.” Life is not linear and like the shapeshifter, you can be whoever you want to be. What colors, shapes, and other elements would be a part of your shapeshifter?


 

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