Erica Lord
This photographer was born in Alaska. She struggles with racial identity in her pieces because she is multi-racial. Lord has Finnish, Indian, Eskimo, Japanese, Swedish and English blood. "My art explores the next wave of cultural examination, an evolution of new ways to demonstrate cultural identity beyond the polar ideas that exist within a strictly two-worlds discourse. " Being multi racial has its perks and downsides. "It's much more complicated to talk about now," she said. "We used to be 'half-breeds.' Now we're 'mixed ethnicity.' People say, 'You don't look Native.' What does that mean?" ...."Ethnic ambiguity, adapting to the ever-changing environment of racial assumptions, is a recurrent theme for the artist. She was born in Fairbanks in 1978 and, in her early years, lived in Nenana. Her grandparents, Edmund and Nora Lord, were active in the Alaska Native land claims movement. " Her work is more performance based than photographic but she says that her intent is more to get the idea across.
The piece I was most interested in was her Un/Defined Self-Portrait series. The thumbnails at the top are from that piece. They are all self portraits of herself. They are not photoshopped at all either, she uses makeup and costume to create her new identities. She aimed to challenge people's idea of the native and show that she is multi-faceted in her mixed racial identity.
I also really liked a piece she did about being indian. She used tape to create words on her body and heavily tanned. Peeling off the pieces she had words on her body to express how she felt about being part indian.....
Half-breed. Colonize Me. Indian Looking. I tan to look more native.
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