Dana Henry Martin

Human Rights

  • The Oklahoma History Most Oklahomans Never Learned

    On the desegregation of American psychiatric institutions and structural racism in American psychiatry. Link in comments. — Oklahoma,1964: Taft State… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • T4 Centers

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s language about people with autism in some ways parallels what Nazis said about Germans with physical… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    3–4 minutes

  • The Writing Life. Parting Words.

    I wrote the essay below years ago for a literary organization that ran a series whose focus was on discussing… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    17–26 minutes

  • The House

    The house has been doused with gasoline. (You’re welcome in it.) The floor of the house is littered with matches.… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–3 minutes

  • Wings and Air

    Leaves from our red oak appliqué the lawn. The fall-blooming plants have lost their flowers, save for two azaleas. Butterflies… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–3 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.