A Place Where We Are In The Sun
Amy Elkins
A Place Where We Are In The Sun (2020-present) uses family archives, historical documents and early Alta California maps to trace the land loss, assimilation and resilience of Indigenous and Chicanx ancestors in Southern California. Taken by trekking into land between what is now know as Santa Barbara and the Greater Los Angeles area, these physically manipulated and rephotographed archives work to unearth historical conditions permeating the soil my ancestors lived on: the enclosure of land under European notions of private property and the resulting displacement of indigenous communities from such spaces.
A Place Where We Are In The Sun attempts to reconnect my ancestors to the ever-changing land they once knew so well while offering an intimate counterpoint to the hardened enclosure of institutional archives. This work is an in-progress homage to my Tongva, Chumash and Mexican ancestral ties as an 8th generation born in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Much of the work thus far has focused on the greater Puntitavjatngna / Pasadena area and surrounding landscapes. Titles include original indigenous names for Chumash and Tongva land and villages as well as current locations.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Amy Elkins
Amy Elkins is a visual artist working in photography, installation, and sculpture. She has spent more than 15 years researching, creating, and exhibiting work that explores the complexities of identity and gender and the psychological and sociological impacts of systems of power, such as those found in prisons, the military, and colonized spaces. Her research-based practice is borne from familial experiences with incarceration, vulnerability, and resilience and oscillates between formal, conceptual, and documentary.
Elkins has work in permanent collections at venues such as The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA; Newcomb Museum of Art in New Orleans, LA; North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC; Light Work in Syracuse, NY; Aperture Foundation in New York, NY; and more. Publications include monographs Black is the Day, Black is the Night in 2016 and Anxious Pleasures in 2022, a book that culminated out of a 377-day pandemic performative portrait project. She received an MFA in Art Practice from Stanford University and a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, New York City. Awards include a Eureka Fellowship, the Aperture Portfolio Prize, Lightwork AIR, Latitude AIR, Peter S. Reed Foundation grant, Cadogan Award, and more.
Website: amyelkins.com
Instagram: @thisisamyelkins
