digital art photography in US

digital art photography in US

2020 - 2021

“While the geography and spread of ancestral teachings has shifted drastically over the years, the roots will remain the same”

Indigenous and Native people move to urban areas for a variety of reasons, and do not always do so by choice. In some cases, urban areas simply present opportunities that are not made readily available in reservations, communities, villages, and pueblos. For many Indigenous/Native people, however, these choices are made on our behalf before we are born.  

It’s important to remember that most urban spaces in the Americas today were once a part of a tribe’s traditional territories before colonization. This urbanization has also caused the displacement of many Nations/Tribes, casting them out of their ancestral territory.  

Art is a channel that knows no bounds, and can speak to the masses regardless of color, creed, or background. Using photography as my mode of creative expression, Exeni seeks to capture the essence of what it means to be an Indigenous/Native person in the 21st century. It is time to challenge the stereotypes of the Urban Indigenous/Native person and walk along the two paths of tradition and urbanization in unison.

This series begins with the Native/Indigenous community members living in the San Francisco Bay Area and will continue to expand to various regions around the globe.