Ꭰ Ꭶ Ꮒ Ꮠ Ꮧ
To Rise And Begin Again displays 29 characters of the Cherokee syllabary, in the form of 19th century letterpress typeface rising up.
The syllabary is comprised of 85 characters, representing syllables, not letters. This writing system, created by Sequoyah, a Cherokee polymath, was completed and adopted into use by the Cherokee Nation in 1821. Within two years ninety percent of the Cherokee people were literate.
Two hundred years later Cherokee and other Indigenous languages are endangered. When a language dies a culture ceases to be expressed and shared. Indigenous languages reflect what societies value - their history, cosmology, medicine, myths, and humor.
To Rise and Begin Again, public art sculpture, 2022, The Armory Show Off-Site at the US Open
The undulating forms of “To Rise And Begin Again” suggest the lyrical rise and fall of spoken language; and more broadly, the rise, fall – and unrelenting rise again – of Indigenous people and their cultures.
This work also reflects the ever upward push of urban skyline silhouettes, and specifically, the rise of NYC’s steel horizon, which was made possible by Indigenous ironworkers. For over a hundred years, these “Skywalkers” (as they are known within their communities) have been integral to NYC’s ascendence.
