In the Four Directions, photographs of my family are printed on pieces of canvas. Around each photo are paintings of the four sacred plants (Corn, Beans, Squash and Tobacco), which correspond to the colors of the four directions and the four sacred mountains that mark the boundaries of Dinétah (Navajo homeland). The pieces of canvas are sewn to the center weaving, and the whole piece is lashed with twine to suspend it within a structure made from branches, which is evocative of a Navajo loom. In the Four Directions, I am attempting to come to terms with questions relating to identity. Is my family’s story a part of who I am? And what is the significance of this story if it is not who I am? —Carolyn L. Anderson

Carolyn L. Anderson, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and an alumna of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in studio art in 2006. She has exhibited her paintings and mixed media artwork alongside other Indigenous artists in several exhibits and also has experience as a curator of Indigenous art. For 16 years, she worked for Birchbark Books in Minneapolis where she became a buyer of Native American art and jewelry. She was inspired by the beadwork that she would regularly purchase for resale at the store. In 2019, she decided to give beadworking a try and developed several of her own designs. Carolyn beads earrings with some of the tiniest glass seed beads available on the market today. Because it takes so long to finish a pair, she offers them on demand. You can preorder a pair in the beadwork section of this website.