Ohlone Visual Land Acknowledgment

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For the festival, Sii Agua Sí, I created a series of 8 animated video backdrops complimenting each performance, and honoring waterways in pre-colonial Yelamu, now known as San Francisco.  I also created a special video memorial honoring Ohlone ancestral village sites. Earlier in the summer I had awoken from a very vivid dream of a hummingbird at my bedroom window, who told me, “We’d like to work with you, but you must now focus on nature” and then flew away.  I heeded the call, and this piece, different from much of my prior work became like an animated landscape painting, providing stunning natural visuals that complemented the performers.

While we had originally planned to present the festival as a site-specific projected activation at Dolores Park, mother nature had other plans and it was moved to Dance Mission Theatre.  For years my wife has literally begged me to go watch dance and she finally got her wish, albeit while I was sitting up in the projection booth.  I was especially honored to collaborate with a very talented group of individuals and work closely with Ohlone advisors Gregg Castro and Kanyon Sayers Roods to create video backdrops that complimented their performances.