YELLOW DIRT: New Paintings by John Feodorov
September 23 - December 18, 2022
Gallery Walk & Talk with the Artist Friday, September 23, 5 - 6 pmOpening Reception Friday, September 23, 6 - 7:30 pm
John Feodorov is a Seattle-based artist, musician and educator of mixed Navajo (Diné) and Euro-American heritage. His work questions and explores assumptions about identity, place, and spirituality within the contexts of consumerism, colonization and environmental degradation. The Yellow Dirt series responds to the ongoing health and environmental crises on and near the Navajo reservation from over 500 abandoned uranium mines.
Effects of the abandoned uranium mines include “lung cancer from inhalation of radioactive particles, as well as bone cancer and impaired kidney function from exposure to radionuclides in drinking water.” (EPA.gov). Birth defects are also attributed to contaminated water. Despite this disturbing history, Hydro Resources Inc. is still pushing for further uranium mining in the areas of Crownpoint and Church Rock in New Mexico. Further info can be found at: New Mexico Environmental Law Center. https://nmelc.org/our-work/cases/crownpoint-proposed-uranium-mine/