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acrylic, oil, and collage on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Funds from Sharon Percy Rockefeller and Senator John Davison Rockefeller IV © G. Peter Jemison 

G. Peter Jemison (Seneca Nation of Indians, Heron Clan)

## *Sentinels (Large Yellow)*, 2006

**PETER JEMISON:**

**Nyah-weh-sgeh-noh.  Oh-nohn-doh-wah'gah gah-way-noh.  My name is Peter Jemison.  In my language I give greetings and thanks that you are well, those of you that are listening to my comments.**

****

**NARRATOR:**

Jemison is a member of the Seneca Nation, and he brings elements of this heritage into his painting, *Sentinels (Large Yellow)*.

**PJ:**

**It’s wintertime and there’s a winter landscape behind the three dried sunflower plants that are in the foreground of the painting...**

****

**In our creation story, the very first plant that was created was the sunflower to provide light.  And since it could not provide enough light, eventually the sun became the source of our light here on Mother Earth.  But initially, according to our creation story, our creator gave us the sunflower.**

****

**NARRATOR:**

Jemison incorporates motifs from Seneca beadwork into his art.  You can see it here in the white lines that crisscross the painting.  But his work also addresses universal themes.

**PJ:**

**I’m also simply looking at the gifts that our creator has provided us, through plants that grow here – both the ones that we consider wild, and the ones that are domesticated.  And we have this relationship.  They are relatives. They take care of us.  If we care for them, they provide us.**

****

**NARRATOR:**

Jemison emphasizes this relationship by including actual plants in the work.

**PJ:**

**There are some petals of flowers and some leaves that are incorporated into the painting.  So what you’re seeing if you look closely is these very small petals that have been attached to the canvas and then paint over the top of them, but they still are visible under the paint.**

****

**I believe that art is intended to help people see.  Not just see what’s in front of them on the canvas, but once they walk away from that to perhaps see things in their environment they haven’t previously focused on, they haven’t previously recognized.**

The Land Carries Our Ancestors

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