Anita Fields’s Artpace exhibition, Where the Light Shines Through, explores the kinship between humans and the earth, water, and sky through an Indigenous Osage lens. Fields mines historical memory through Osage material culture, emphasizing the strength of resilience and identity woven within each craft. The multi-media exhibition is a welcomed invitation to ground oneself in a fast-moving, contemporary world and be present in a space of ancestral storytelling and reflection.
At the center of the exhibition, The Sun Leads You Home, is a suspended house structure with otherworldly, gossamer walls, which embodies ancestral connections. Fields integrates her grandmother’s tag markings, mirroring Osage archival preservation techniques. The piece, evoking both shelter and craft, is a touchstone of intergenerational knowledge as a form of healing in turbulent times.
A gold-sprayed elk figurine embodies a version of the Osage genesis narrative. The elk symbolizes creation and survival, having sacrificed itself to make the land fertile for the Osage people. When The Elk Created the Earth examines humanity’s connection to nature and the cosmos.
The Memory of the Sun and The Earth Carries a Memory, each displayed on the western walls, reflect the significance of Cahokia and Sugarloaf ceremonial mounds, emphasizing Osage origins and the impact of colonial intervention on these sacred sites. The weaving patterns honor cultural heritage and serve as a visual language of resistance, reinforcing the resilience and continuity of the tribe’s traditions. Fields explores the loss of ancestral lands due to modern disruptions while incorporating textile patterns that symbolize Osage craft and identity.
Where The Light Shines Through evokes vitality and remembrance through indigenous techniques such as finger weaving, embellishment, and ribbon work. At Artpace, Anita Fields offers an intimate yet expansive reflection on the enduring connections between human existence, ancestral knowledge, and the natural world.
—Ada Smith Genitempo, Manager of Residencies and Exhibitions
