Emmi Whitehorse’s Green Wood (1996) animates the experience of being fully immersed in a place rather than picturing it from afar. The artist has said that her “paintings tell the story of land over time—of being completely, microcosmically within a place.”1 Green Wood magnifies tiny details of the southwestern landscape: seedpods that travel through the wind, animal tracks that traverse miles of terrain, and leaves that skitter across the ground. Whitehorse celebrates the vastness of the natural world by focusing on its beauty on a microscopic scale. The symbols that populate Whitehorse’s canvases are pulled from her personal memories, observations of the natural world, and Navajo stories. By painting her dynamic relationship with the landscape, Whitehorse emphasizes mutual dependence rather than control over ecosystems. This perspective aligns with Hózhó, a complex concept in Navajo philosophy that encourages seeking balance and harmony between all things.
Emmi Whitehorse
39 1/2 x 51 in. (100.3 x 129.5 cm)
Art Bridges
1996
Oil and chalk on paper mounted to canvas
AB.2026.29
Artist; (Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL); purchased by the John and Susan Horseman Collection, 2022