Dana Henry Martin

Utah

  • Utah State Mental Health Hospital

    Here are some of the reasons a person could be committed to the state psychiatric hospital in Utah around the… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • December 25, 2025

    The laccolith shoulders this inelegant sky, nothing to write home about, as if this weren’t home now but that other… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–4 minutes

  • Frictions

    “Nothing about us without us.” That’s a guiding principle in the disability-rights movement. It applies to the mental-health justice and… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    5–8 minutes

  • 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

  • Sandy, Utah

    Five years ago today. Dimple Dell Regional Park, Sandy, Utah, December 24, 2019. Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • The Time Capsule of My Body

    I feel this sadness spreading across the time capsule of my body. My cells remember this sadness and pull toward… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–3 minutes

  • Living Through Destruction

    I just woke up from a dream that I was driving through Canyonlands while Harold Budd and Brian Eno’s “Not… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    1–2 minutes

  • Morning Prayer October 16, 2024

    I’m listening to the chickens on the other side of La Verkin Creek over in the Cholla neighborhood where people… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–3 minutes

  • Wildness

    Wildness is one of those words that looks like it’s missing a letter. I want another d or n. Something.… Read more.

    Dana Henry Martin
    2–3 minutes

  • Post-Monsoon Bloom

    I have a Mojave Desert wardrobe, but I’m a Sonoran Desert dweller now. I need to be more columnar cactus,… 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.