Joe Harjo

My work uncovers the lack of visibility of Native culture, lived experience and identity in America, due to both the absence of proper representation in mainstream culture and the undermining of Native belief systems. I challenge what is societally considered “Native American” and what is not to dismantle the perceived spaces where, in the view of mainstream society, Indians are allowed and expected to exist as well as the visual notion of what an “Indian” should look like in those spaces. I confront the misrepresentation and appropriation of Native culture and identity, initiating a call for change.