WEST BRATTLEBORO — Current and recent artwork by mixed media artist Alyssa Hinton explores her indigenous heritage, especially her Tuscaroran ancestry, in a new exhibit at the C.X. Silver Gallery in West Brattleboro.
Three years in the making, her “Earth Altar” was inspired by Native American astronomy, cosmology, and earth spirituality, and by traditional hide garments.
Symbolizing the revival of indigenous culture and the unity and interdependence between humans and the universe, the five pieces of the Altar are an octagonal medicine wheel encircled by four free-hanging “Power Dresses,” wearable medicine wheels designed to show the horizon line between the earth and sky.
Her multiracial background reflects the hybrid quality of her art-making approaches, which include installation, sculpture, collage, assemblage, patchwork quilting, fiber appliqué, painting, drawing, block prints, photo-to-collage, and digital composite.
A reception and discussion with the artist at the Gallery will be held Tuesday, June 20, from 5-7 p.m. Display of the altar pieces concludes the next day, but Hinton's “Ancestral Spaceship” and “Awakening” series of 2-D and 3-D works continue through Sept. 25.