Exit West: A Cultural Confluence
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TRADITION ANd change
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IN THE LAST NUMBER OF DECADES, the inherent immigrant nature of North Americans has evinced itself once again in a revived population shift to the American West. In 1994 when relocating to the convergence of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Great Plains, I became one of those immigrants. As a cultural chronicler with cameras as companions, my years living in the Mora Valley have been spent observing, as well as being observed.
Though there no longer is a full Native tribal presence in the valley, profiles of Mexican and Indigenous bloodlines can be discerned in the faces of my neighbors, also ninth-generation descendants of Spanish conquerors for the cross and crown, some yet speaking in sixteenth-century Andalusian idioms. People here have been reluctant to embrace those from the “outside” and remain grounded by their faith in tradition, family, community, the church, and the land’s fecundity. With that is a depth of cultural wealth here that no outsider can easily grasp.
Long a land-based economy, there are yet seasonal indicators such as rocks, trees, livestock, wildlife, and produce that are harvested and sold for financial sustenance. In retiring from urban centers that provided crucial jobs, children of the valley are returning to a less complex life with renewed appreciation for their distinctive culture. And with the area attracting many drawn to its abundant natural attributes, joint contributions re-establishing commerce with organic farming and ranching, growers' cooperatives, the restoration of historic properties, cottage industries, and local news publications signify an honoring of the "old ways" while bringing an influx of possibility for a vibrant rural existence. It is in a visual fusion of memory, perception, and form, that these images offer contemplations on the social, economic, familial, and religious influences that continue to define the cultural landscape of Northern New Mexico.
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Rituals & Traditions
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Accretions of ChangE
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People of the Valley
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HomeWorld
PRINTS
1994 - Present
20 x 16 Selenium Toned Gelatin Silver Photographs
Editions of 50
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20 x 16 Selenium Toned Gelatin Silver Photographs
Editions of 50
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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Looking Back New Mexico History Museum
Agua y Fe: Water and Faith Las Vegas, NM Arts Council and Plaza Hotel
Contemplative Landscape New Mexico History Museum
The Cultural Landscape of Northern New Mexico Office of the State Historian
Shifting Landscapes Southwest Collection Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University
From Petroglyphs to Plazas Office of Archeological Studies New Mexico Governor's Gallery
New Mexico Photographers Runnels Gallery Eastern New Mexico University
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COLLECTIONS
Center for Southwest Research Special Collections Library University of New Mexico
George Eastman Museum
Harwood Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Stanford University Special Collections Library and University Archives
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PRESENTATIONS
Contemplative Landscape New Mexico History Museum
Where Angels Come to Sing Theaterwork
Shifting Landscapes: Considerations of Time, Place, and Culture SPE Southwest Regional Conference
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PUBLICATIONS
Cheryl and Bill Jamison, Tasting New Mexico, Santa Fe, Museum of NM Press, 2012
Looking Back New Mexico History Museum
Agua y Fe: Water and Faith Las Vegas, NM Arts Council and Plaza Hotel
Contemplative Landscape New Mexico History Museum
The Cultural Landscape of Northern New Mexico Office of the State Historian
Shifting Landscapes Southwest Collection Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University
From Petroglyphs to Plazas Office of Archeological Studies New Mexico Governor's Gallery
New Mexico Photographers Runnels Gallery Eastern New Mexico University
• • •
COLLECTIONS
Center for Southwest Research Special Collections Library University of New Mexico
George Eastman Museum
Harwood Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Stanford University Special Collections Library and University Archives
• • •
PRESENTATIONS
Contemplative Landscape New Mexico History Museum
Where Angels Come to Sing Theaterwork
Shifting Landscapes: Considerations of Time, Place, and Culture SPE Southwest Regional Conference
• • •
PUBLICATIONS
Cheryl and Bill Jamison, Tasting New Mexico, Santa Fe, Museum of NM Press, 2012
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