underlog : august ’22
‘Underlog’ is a deep brown earth pigment gathered on Kalapuya lands / Eugene, Oregon by artist Tilke Elkins, at the disturbed site of a fallen tree that blocked a walking path in a woods on the edge of an urban area. The path is close to the banks of the Willamette River, which may have been known as ‘Whilamut,’ the Kalapuya word which means, “where the river ripples and runs fast.” Tilke walked past this violet-brown earth and gazed admiringly at it many times without considering engaging with it as pigment. This Spring, artist Susan Applegate invited Tilke to help work on a mural in Eugene’s Westmoreland Park, co-designed with Kalapuya elder Esther Stutzman and depicting Kalapuya ancestral lifeways. Tilke suggested she paint a small section of the mural in local earth pigments. This dark earth was the first to come to mind as perfect for the project, and was used to depict a motif used in the mural on Kalapuya hats. As a Ground Bright pigment, ‘Underlog’ presents an opportunity to offer support to the Kalapuya community by directing the 22% to Cha Tumenma, a land rematriation project led by Esther Stutzman, who is depicted in the lifeways mural sharing her grandmother’s stories with a rapt audience.
contributor: Tilke Elkins
Tilke Elkins has been collaborating with wild pigments since 2008 and is the founding director of Wild Pigment Project. Raised in Quebec & Vermont / Wabanaki lands, she’s spent the past couple of decades as a guest on Kalapuyan turf / Springfield, Oregon, where she writes, runs Wild Pigment Project, teaches and makes mostly site-specific work, which she calls ‘paintings-with-place.’ This September, an exhibition series at form & concept gallery on Tewa / Tanos lands in Santa Fe, New Mexico will feature a group exhibition of nearly 30 artists who have contributed pigment to Ground Bright, curated by Elkins, as well as Elkins’ solo show, Records of Being Held. She is also currently at work on a book, Being With Pigments, which is a compilation of pigment, stories, recipes and interviews with Ground Bright artists, as well as an overview of Elkins’ approach to pigment study. www.tilkeelkins.com / www.wildpigmentproject.org.
Photo from Tilke’s website.
Image from the Cha Tumenma gofundme page.
22% donation recipient : Cha Tumenma
The Cha Tumenma Land Project is led by Esther Stutzman, a Kalapuya elder and her descendants in the southern Willamette Valley. They are in the midst of a land rematriation project on over 200 acres in their traditional territory, where they plan to solidify a permanent space for Native youth summer camps they've been running for decades, create a community garden, practice cultural fire and on-site sustainable forestry. The Kalapuya elder leading this project helped create and recently published the first Kalapuyan dictionary, and the land-based and cultural work is unique to anything in the area. "The primary intent of the Komemma Cultural Protection Association (KCPA) shall be to involve Native youth in awareness of their culture and traditions using research, cultural knowledge and related activities." For information on how to donate directly to the project, go to www.gofundme.com/f/cha-tumenma-land-project-infrastructure-support.