Angel

Oil on panel, 30” x 30”, Private Collection

I met an Inupiaq girl named Angel during a trip to Shishmaref, an Alaskan island in the Chukchi Sea. Her homeland is under threat of annihilation due to coastal erosion from climate change. Angel, who loves to make origami figures, holds an Arctic tern, a bird that migrates annually to Alaska from South America. This portrait represents the spiritual power, resilience and indigenous knowledge of her people.