Indigenous Presence
Indigenous Presence
About the project
The series Indigenous Presence by artist Dakota Mace draws on the Diné concept of ałk'idáá—a cyclical sense of time where past, present, and future converge. Using historical and experimental photographic processes—including pinhole photography, chemigrams, and cliché verre, a combination of hand-drawing and photography—to shift how we perceive both image and place, the work reveals fragments of memory and invites viewers to see land as an active storyteller.
Urban landscapes often conceal histories that shaped them. These images were taken by the artist around Bowling Green Park above this station, once a council ground for Indigenous tribes and reportedly the location where Manhattan was sold to Dutch merchant and politician Peter Minuit in 1626. These stories linger in the land, even as time layers over them, interconnecting everything in an ongoing cycle. The artist implores viewers to honor the grief and grace entwined with being part of this land’s memory.
About the artist
Dakota Mace (Diné) is an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on translating the language of Diné history and beliefs. Mace received her MA and MFA degrees in Photography and Textile Design at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BFA in Photography from the Institute of American Indian Arts. As a Diné (Navajo) artist, Mace draws from the history of her Diné heritage, exploring the themes of family lineage, community, and identity. In addition, her work pushes the viewer's understanding of Diné culture through alternative photography techniques, weaving, beadwork, and papermaking.
Mace has also worked with numerous institutions and programs to develop dialogue on cultural appropriation and the importance of Indigenous design work. She is an MFA in Studio Arts Faculty member at the Institute of American Indian Arts and the photographer for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Center and the Center of Design and Material Culture.
Her work is in the collections of the Library of Congress, Forge Project Collection, Whitney Museum of American Art, Everson Museum of Art, Amon Carter Museum, National Gallery of Art, Museum of Contemporary Photography among other public collections.