Dana Henry Martin

Dana Henry Martin

  • On Poetry and Healing

    I don’t approach poems as therapy. I just come to them as myself. Poems allow us to reclaim our stories,… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–3 minutes

  • More Than Noise

    Stephan Torre says that, for him … writing comes when it must, when it’s too hard to hold in the… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • Poems as Time-Stamps

    During Saturday’s Utah Poetry Festival panel discussion on Poetry As Survival, if there’s time, I’d like to talk about why… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    3–5 minutes

  • Poetry As Survival

    During Saturday’s Utah Poetry Festival panel discussion on Poetry As Survival, if there’s time, I’d like to talk about why… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    3–5 minutes

  • The Others

    The last lines of Linda Gregg’s poem “The Girl I Call Alma” read:               Tell me we are one              and that it’s… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • Light Music

    Morning. I feel my hair feathering the sides of my face, a sensation I don’t like but can’t remedy because… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    3–4 minutes

  • Dreams as Reality

    What if waking is just what we do because we need to survive and sleeping (and similar states) are where… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–3 minutes

  • The Last Woman Experiments

    I dreamed about a body of research that was established by the federal government called The Last Woman Experiments. They… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–4 minutes

  • Twin Fawns, Treats, and Sitting Right in Rooms

    I dated a man who didn’t like to be touched when he ate. Never, not by anybody. Not even me.… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    3–4 minutes

  • The Deconsolidation

    I dreamed there was a mass psyche-extinction event in the United States called The Deconsolidation. It scrambled people’s memories, jumbled… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

PROCESS

  • Map and Research: Investigate the historical, geological, and ecological context of each collection site or reverse the direction, mapping sites based on ancestral and historical narratives.
  • Forage: Gather natural materials ethically, respectfully, and with permission.
  • Transform: Process foraged materials into custom mediums and physical resources for art-making.
  • Weave: Track the stories held within the land, braiding personal, ancestral, and ecological histories.
  • Create: Generate studies and finished artwork informed by the sites and physically composed of the materials collected.

  • Limits: Not all sites will be safe or accessible, which means some spaces cannot be entered, and some stories will remain incomplete. An empty container can signify these omissions.

purpose

ethics

Responsible Exploration: Committing to mindful presence, permission-based foraging, and minimal-impact exploration on every site.

Meaning

Embodied Storytelling: Engaging in sensory, place-based creation that connects the maker and viewer to the specific location and to the physical earth.

Reclamation: Unearthing and honoring lost, fractured, or overlooked histories embedded in the landscape.

Material Transformation: Celebrating the alchemy of turning raw, gathered earth into tangible, expressive art.

community

Public Education: Sharing the ecological and historical narratives of the sites to foster a deeper collective awareness.

Active Participation: Creating opportunities for community participation, engagement, and shared connection through the work.