Grand Ronde photographer M. Earl Williams explores the creation of community
M. Earl Williams grew up with his family on the Grand Ronde Reservation and started his artistic career as an adventurous skateboarding teen with a camera.
Now, with several art degrees in hand, he explores human connections to place and community through his work.
Williams, also the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde multimedia communications specialist, is an accomplished artist and educator with appearances in galleries from Oregon to Europe.
His work is currently on display at the This IS Kalapuyan Land exhibit at Pittock Mansion in Portland and the Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center in Grand Ronde. People can also view his art on his website.
Henshaw: How else does your background or identity as a Native person from Grand Ronde inform your work?
Williams: I think (for) most art and artists, that comes from something personal. And I think that's what you're trying to do is you're trying to create something personal, but then also make it to where people can take away something from it for their own experience.
If we look at, traditionally, what Native artists have done, and Native people in general, the stories that we tell are of this area, of this land, and they take place here, and they try to explain the world and understand the world. And the artwork that we make is the same way.
I think even the more traditional crafts, things, or maybe even more utilitarian art, they're still trying to make them so they can use them in this world. And again, try to understand the world. And I think ... my artwork is trying to do that, but we live in a really hyper-fast digital age. So I'm trying to think about where the natural world is important, and where place and location is important, in a world where you can seemingly be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Because we’re constantly connected, everything seems like we get news that travels so fast and sparks up, and then it happens really quickly. And then it's a moment, fleeting, and we moved on to something else. And I think about that in the work that I make. I think of traditional storytelling in place and the connection to land and connecting to those things I think are important; I think about that when I'm doing that work, but then also wondering if that can't exist in a digital future.
I'm always fascinated by the idea of what Indigenous futurism is or what that can look like. And I think a lot of people have different maybe definitions of it. But just that idea, in general, sort of how we can take some of that traditional knowledge and maybe use it for these new virtual interfaces.
Henshaw: Can you tell me about your recent tintype portrait project?
Williams: I was excited about this possibility of this new avenue of being a photographer, but not photographing in the real world, but photographing in the virtual world. And that's how that project started. And so I had always been thinking about other ways to do that.
I became interested in just people actually role-playing as characters and connecting online and creating community online, and so I tried to find different ways to explore that, and then also thinking about my Native identity, and like, how much of that do I explore or express online? And how much of that is sort of other people? Do they express that online? Or do they take on different identities when they're online versus in person? Of course, they do. But why do they choose those identities that they take on?
So when I found out about this Red Dead Redemption video game, which was sort of like this cowboy and Indian old western movie simulator world, and how you can actually connect with real people, I thought this (project) was the best way that I could document people and how they're connecting in this world and what they're doing and why they get so motivated to roleplay.
And specifically, this other layer that I was fascinated with was how most people that I would talk to that are online playing these games that are non-Native, and they're wanting to roleplay as the Native characters …
They almost feel like they can make characters that are Native to represent the people and then go fight off the cowboys and win; kind of change history in a way or rewrite history.
So it's like we're motivation … They want to play kind of the underdog character of a Native.
They think that they're honoring (Natives), but they're definitely not.
I think that there's a lot of talk about Native appropriation as sort of mascots and sort of changing names of schools and sports characters and things like that.
So it was another way that I could hopefully tap into that, but also show that these people are learning something about culture, whether they realize it or not, and they think that they're doing good. And is that better than nothing? I guess, is that a good starting point who these people are, or are the people doing more harm by just perpetuating the stereotypes and just wanting to play these characters because they've seen the stereotypes before, and they're interested in them for some reason? So it was just a way for me to explore these people's desires or interests. I think, in Native culture as a Native person myself, I became kind of fascinated with it.
Is it okay for them to be doing that when we think about kind of cultural appropriation? And how does that work in a digital space where, virtually, I think people identify as anything, and they change that identity and whatever experiences it seems to be a more free-flowing, people can be who they want to be, or, we try to choose who we want to be online, right? And everyone does that to a point. All the way to your own social media accounts.
Henshaw: What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of your work?
Williams: I think the most challenging thing for me is thinking about the context of what people bring when they look at the work.
For me, I think that's the hardest thing because usually, the work is so complex and layered. Right? And I want there to be multiple ideas, emotions, to be built into that work. And to have somebody get everything out of it that I put in is always going to be impossible. But the level I think of context that they get, and the level that they get out of it is always, I think (is) one of the hardest parts.
I guess for me, it's how do I provide enough context for them to get something out of the work. Because if they don't get anything out of the work, then it's a failure. And then how do I lead them to get more out of it than what they would get if I didn't give any context at all?
I guess the best example, the best way I can think about this, going back to what my job is, sort of creating content for the tribe. Like, whenever we want to do something, we're like, 'Okay, well, let's tell people about what we're doing. We're doing this great stuff, how we explained to people like what we're doing, or what's happening with us,’ and it almost always goes back into is, well, the first thing we have to do is we have to educate them on the fact that we were a terminated tribe because that's something that's not very common. Or the fact that we have this consent decree that's tied to being terminated, which prevents the tribe from doing hunting and fishing in most areas — like we're restricted to areas that we can do that. And that's not a very common thing.
So if we want to tell these people about one thing, (we have) to go back and sort of inform and educate from all of these pasts. And that's, I think, the hardest part with both what I'm doing (with my) work at the tribe, but also my own artwork is like, how do you know what sort of pre-built or pre-conceived or educated idea that they're bringing to the work when they look at it, because I build layers of ideas, or want to build in different concepts into it.
It's hard to figure out how to tell somebody something without telling them something because if you just tell them something, they'll usually think of it as work, right? And you want them to understand something without doing too much work. But they have to do a little bit of work, I guess. I think that's the hardest part for me is just how to provide context and visual mediums without over-explaining it because then they won’t be as interested in it.
Henshaw: How has your style evolved over time?
Williams: I think, as I go through life, as we get older, as we age, I think that we just evolve in general, right? I think you become parts of who you used to be like, that's always still there. And then you add these new pieces or add new parts.
I would say skateboard culture is still a part of who I am. But I'm definitely not out there skateboarding every day in the streets or anything like that. But I love and am still kind of trying to keep up with that culture. Because there's something that's so freeing about it that you can do whatever you want, and you're looking at the world from a different way.
Going to college and learning more about the art world in general, and seeing these artists and how they've used their camera and their work to make a message and have a really strong personal message behind it, that they can be relatable to people and what they can learn, it was something that I carried throughout; what fascinated me about photography, and made me realize this is what I really want to do. That motivates me.
I was hiding (my Native) identity a little bit because I was afraid of getting labeled as a Native artist, and I can only do basketry or something like that was something that I had to get past. And now that I'm past that, I'm really happy that I did it, it felt like the work that I was making had always had a little bit. There's a quality there that I can see of it still being kind of Native, but it's not as obvious to other people.
But now that I'm out there, making it, I'm hoping that it motivates more people to be able to kind of embrace that (identity) more and not feel like you have to hide it, show that you can be in all these other spaces and make these things.
I'm thinking about how to reinterpret the Native mentality behind work.
This new job that I'm doing has evolved me and changed my style too; everything that I make for the tribe specifically, there's a pressure that's involved there.
I think about the ancestors' sacrifices and the things that they've gone through. And every photograph that I take has to be something (that) I think about, would they be proud or happy that this is out here?
So I think about it more, which is really weird, because I'm working for a tribal government and making work there. I think about that, and that's sort of definitely changed the style, right? How can you be like, DIY-punk-anti-establishment, but now I'm working for an establishment, but it's a Native government? So it's kind of anti-establishment, in a way.
It's this weird mix of things. But I think that that's sort of how that style has evolved. And I pulled parts of sections from those other mediums, and other identities, and other tasks and try to mold them into things — like who I am and the work that I'm making now.
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