When I did this print I was thinking particularly about the West, since this is a print for the Women of the West Museum. Jackstraw refers to something or someone perceived of as worthless or barren. While the far West was being exuberantly settled, the U.S. government considered the midsection relatively worthless and relegated it to the Native people. For me, this land is important. It is what shaped and what sustained people.

This work was a continuation of looking at a particular geography of the West. The colors certainly reflect that. I was thinking of the prairie--the colors in the print remind me of the high desert country. This is the color that comes to mind when I think of the word jackstraw. It is also the texture I think of when I think of prairie--kind of grubby, bleached out, dry grass.

--Emmi Whitehorse

Likewise picturing the intertwined cultural and spiritual traditions that existed prior to conquest and colonization, Emmi Whitehorse's Jackstraw embodies the essence of what has long sustained Westerners: the land.

Born on the Navajo reservation in northwest New Mexico, Whitehorse draws on her earliest memories of playing outdoors, tending sheep, and gathering plants for the dyes used in her grandmother's weavings to evoke the fullness and variety of the Western landscape, from its vast vistas to its microscopic organic materials. Her glowing, large-scale drawings and paintings bridge the cultural divide between native traditions and modern art techniques and sensibilities, revealing the dynamic and permeable nature of the West.

--Erika Doss

A PORTFOLIO of four limited edition prints is available for purchase.

The Women of the West Museum Expanded Visions Project involves four internationally renowned artists selected to work with master printer Bud Shark on a suite of original prints created exclusively for the museum.

The four artists include Emmi Whitehorse, Anita Rodriguez, Hung Liu, and Alison Saar. Offered in an elegant presentation case, the portfolio of four prints, in a limited edition of 75, is currently available at the price of $5,000.

Proceeds from this project will help support the museum's education programs.

Call the Women of the West Museum at 303-446-9378 for more information.