Artwork of the Week: March 10
The image you see here is a still taken from Eugene Tapahe’s video installation Kéyah Yił (My Land). Filmed in Monument Valley (a land sacred to the Diné people), Tapahe walked on the land in a ritualistic pattern to create the circular shapes and passageways seen here. Tapahe said of creating this installation, “Following the customary practice of Diné culture, we began the mapping from the east. By Diné traditions, we measured and paced the circular and spherical symbols on the land, always starting clockwise from the east.” At the center of these concentric circles are two intersecting lines; these lines, made from cornmeal, are carefully placed on the ground as an offering to Mother Earth. The artwork relies wholly on the earth’s natural elements. The image above of Tapahe walking around the work provides an overview of the installation; however, the film’s multiple angles and distances reveal more about the fifty-foot tamped form.
This four-minute film will be on view at the BYU Museum of Art until April 26, 2025.
