Mischa de Stroumillo is a visual artist based in London, primarily working within photography. Central to her work lies a deep-rooted enchantment with the natural world, following a cross-disciplinary engagement with the land. Through walking, foraging, isolating and processing found organic artifacts, Mischa explores, draws together and seeks unity in the diverse space between mysticism and the natural sciences. Over the past few years Mischa has been investigating the value of traditional indigenous knowledge as an adaptive and creative force for encountering ecological issues, often oscillating between myth and experience.
“In the blood-red shadows of Monument Valley that stretch across sage and sand, what endures is what is standing†Where water is scarce, find moisture in seeds is a visual journey through the red rock canyon landscape of the Colorado Plateau. This is home to the two twin butts of Bears Ears, rising tall over the juniper lined sandstone valleys. A place for healing and honoring ancestral heritage, Bears Ears has long been a scared, cultural and ecological site for the Hopi, Zuni, Ute and Navajo tribes. A vast expanse of layered time, rich in intact ecology and culture.
In February 2018, President Trump unlawfully reduced the size of several sacred and ecological sites around the US, one of which is the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. This is the biggest abolition of protected public lands in American history. Two million acres of defenseless wild land is now accessible to the unforgiving extraction and industrial tourism industries.
Where water is scarce, find moisture in seeds explores the sacrosanctity of this erosional landscape through the lens of the Navajo Nation. This project was created through engagement in ceremony, conversation and mythology. This work travels through the land of invisible boundaries of injustice and power, where the skeletons of indigenous ancestors lie, where medicine grows, and ceremonies are held. Through this project, one navigates across displaced land and artifact, forming a story of conflicting power.
