Dana Henry Martin

Poetry

  • Updated Immunotypical Privilege List

    In 2014, I wrote a piece titled “44 Signs of Immunotypical Privilege” shortly after my diagnosis with common variable immunodeficiency.… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    6–9 minutes

  • July 24 Executive Order Erasure 2

    Given that Fox News host Brian Kilmeade just called for people who are unhoused or have mental-health diagnostic labels to… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • July 24 Executive Order Erasure 1

    Given that Fox News host Brian Kilmeade just called for people who are unhoused or have mental-health diagnostic labels to… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • Biomimicry: Poetry As a Cell

    In a world of ribosomes (poets) crowding the nucleus (poetry establishment), live reeflike as the smooth endoplasmic recticulum on the… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • My Accounts

    It’s not easy to write about some of the situations I’ve encountered in poetry. I do it because most people… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • What I Do

    I want to understand the origins of the universe, but right now understanding the origins of hate is more pressing.… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    3–5 minutes

  • One of Them

    When I was in the hospital in Colorado, I saw a young man, only nineteen years old, almost die by… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    7–10 minutes

  • 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

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.