by Katelyn Garcia
Katelyn Garcia’s art centers on performative interaction with the land, documented through video, photo, and installation work. She draws from the history, ecology, and geology of the areas in which she works, as well as religious and spiritual symbolism from her own religion and others connected to the land. Predecessory Prayer is a performance piece that deals with the difficult things we inherit or learn about in our family, cultural, religious, and national histories and the experience of working through those things. Her “Range Fire” diptych draws from the site of a forest fire that began in October 2020 near Orem, Utah. It burned over 3,400 acres. These images were taken the following spring as the new growth stood in stark contrast to the blackened trees. These photos are remnants of a performance by Garcia in which she moves through the landscape covering her body and clothing in the charcoal of the trees.