Brük
Dunbar presents her fourth solo installation at Zughaus Gallery in
Berkeley, California. “Malpais: the Badlands” is Dunbar’s first
installation that delves into her homeland of New Mexico by exploring
the history of Uranium mining in the region and the long and painful
relationship that it played with the Native American reservations within
and nearby. After many occurrences of lung cancer started surfacing
amongst its miners, the Navajo Tribe declared a moratorium on uranium
mining in 2005. Dunbar, a ceramic sculptor, aims to discuss the topic of
Uranium mining by building floor-to-ceiling cacti monuments. These
sculpted cacti are non-genus specific and aim to represent the flora of
many Native American lands and tell the story of many injustices Uranium
has done, not only the Native Nations it affected directly, but also to
the world through its processing and nuclear proliferation.
Photos from Malpais opening reception by Natalia Melikova
