Erica Lord, Portrait 022, from Un/Defined Self-Portrait Series
Erica Lord
1978-
Athabaskan / Inupiaq
Date
2005
Medium Specific
C-print
Edition / State
4/16
Classification
Photograph
Dimensions
6 x 4 in. (15.2 x 10.2 cm)
Accession Number
2006.20.10.59
Credit
Gift of the Artist
Memo / Artist Statement
In her work Un/Defined Self-Portrait Series (2007), Lord confronts the viewer with multiple self-portraits that appear to be an array of headshots of completely different people. These diverse images work together to provoke viewers to reflect on their preconceived notions about how Native people look. Having been subjected to hurtful opinions about her facial features, eyes, and hair throughout her life, she states “Here [Alaska] I was considered a white baby by my relatives. In Michigan, I was an Indian…People say ‘you don’t look Native.’ What does that mean?”[3] Referring to the Series, she asserts, “This is what ‘Native’ looks like now.”[4]
Biography
by Mique'l Askren Dangeli (from Manifestations)
Of Athabascan, Inupiaq, Finnish, Swedish, English and Japanese heritage, Erica Lord’s work is tremendously influenced by both society’s response to her appearance and her life-long travel between her father’s village of Nenana, Alaska and her mother’s community in Michigan.
As an interdisciplinary artist, Lord primarily works in performance, film, photography and installation. Her pieces directly engage viewers in a dialogue that forces them to think critically about the stereotypes they hold about Native people and how these views have been long ingrained in mainstream society through popular culture, governmental policies and the media.
Of Athabascan, Inupiaq, Finnish, Swedish, English and Japanese heritage, Erica Lord’s work is tremendously influenced by both society’s response to her appearance and her life-long travel between her father’s village of Nenana, Alaska and her mother’s community in Michigan.
As an interdisciplinary artist, Lord primarily works in performance, film, photography and installation. Her pieces directly engage viewers in a dialogue that forces them to think critically about the stereotypes they hold about Native people and how these views have been long ingrained in mainstream society through popular culture, governmental policies and the media.