Donna Garcia | Alpharetta, GA
@donnagarcia23
PROJECT STATEMENT for INDIAN LAND FOR SALE – In 1830, the United States government, led by President Andrew Jackson, forcibly relocated native populations east of the Mississippi in order that white farmers could take over their land. The event led to a conveniently forgotten genocide, and the extinguishment of the indigenous narratives from American history.
My series Indian Land For Sale, attempts to recreate the horror of this event from the perspective of the native tribes. My images serve to replace what has been lost from official historical archives and seeks to sound an alarm, as the federal government, in 2020, is revoking ancestral land from protective trust.
Indian Land For Sale reflects upon my own indigenous roots and these photographs are symbolic of the strong residual imprint left on the memories of survivors and future indigenous generations. My goal is to continue this work by highlighting the current administrations bold attack on protected indigenous land that is, somehow, going unseen.
BIOGRAPHY – Donna Garcia’s work illustrate a semiotic dislocation that has been organically reconstructed in a way that gives her subjects a voice in the present moment; something they didn’t have in the past. Her images rise above what they actually are and become empathic recreations in a fine art narrative. Her current work Indian Land For Sale reflects on her own indigenous roots and her photographs are symbolic of the strong residual imprint left on the memories of survivors and future indigenous generations.
She has an MFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design. Her work has been exhibited and published internationally and she is a 2019 nominee of reGENERATION 4: The Challenges of Photography and the Museum of Tomorrow, Emerging Artists to Watch, Musee de l’Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland.
your story & photos go straight to the heart. it’s sad what has happened & the government not held responsible . I feel for all native americans