Title of Work: Coyote
Date: 2025
Medium: Hand-woven yarn tapestry, wooden dowel, spray paint, plastic bottle caps, glue
Dimensions: 43 inches by 45 inches by 2 inches
This work considers subaltern social groups and classes as they begin to rise to dominance confronting the existing hegemony. It takes influence from Antonio Gramsci’s notions of subalternity, common sense and hidden transcripts, and the emergence of organic intellectuals. The subalterns, those who are oppressed by the ruling class and mentally subordinated with fear and humiliation, share a class common sense, which contains the seeds for new political narratives, and speak a hidden transcript, a subversive critique of power whispered behind the back of the dominant class. The organic intellectuals emerge from within the subaltern class, and it is through dialogue between organic intellectuals and the subalterns that they create coherent political narratives with the power to inspire collective action and social transformation. As the inchoate subaltern class rises under the leadership of the organic intellectuals, there is a need for new art, symbols, and designs, new tools and technologies, and new weapons and equipment that embody and are used to serve their political narratives and ideologies.
Originating in the western part of North America, coyotes are held in high regard by indigenous cultures. Coyotes are the most ancient deity in the continent and the principal character in creation myths. Old Man Coyote tales are the oldest preserved human stories in North America and are ruminations on the human condition. In Tenochtitlan, Aztec mythology produced coyotes gods like Nezahualcoyotl, who was associated with sensous pleasure and seen as a patron of the high arts, and Coyotlinahual, a sorcerer known for his ability to assume the shape of people. When Europeans arrived in North America, they had never seen a coyote and therefore had no mythology about them. With the emergence of Manifest Destiny, Europeans sought to control the land along with its native people and wildlife. From the 1870s to the 1950s, government agencies waged war on coyotes, bison, and wolves using chemical poisons. Throughout this time, coyotes managed to survive and thrive expanding their range throughout the Americas.
Originating in the western part of North America, coyotes are held in high regard by indigenous cultures. Coyotes are the most ancient deity in the continent and the principal character in creation myths. Old Man Coyote tales are the oldest preserved human stories in North America and are ruminations on the human condition. In Tenochtitlan, Aztec mythology produced coyotes gods like Nezahualcoyotl, who was associated with sensous pleasure and seen as a patron of the high arts, and Coyotlinahual, a sorcerer known for his ability to assume the shape of people. When Europeans arrived in North America, they had never seen a coyote and therefore had no mythology about them. With the emergence of Manifest Destiny, Europeans sought to control the land along with its native people and wildlife. From the 1870s to the 1950s, government agencies waged war on coyotes, bison, and wolves using chemical poisons. Throughout this time, coyotes managed to survive and thrive expanding their range throughout the Americas.
