“The Power of Mother Earth,” a 20-foot-tall mural by artist Thomas “Breeze” Marcus (Tohono O’Odham/Akimel O’odham/Ponca/Otoe/Hopi), went from outline to finished work in five days in celebration of the 56th annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market held March 1-2, 2014.
From a pamphlet about the mural distributed to museum visitors:
“In the mural, Earth is personified as a woman of Indigenous background. Although Marcus has added cultural elements inspired by O’odham Himdak (O’odham way of life), she is not meant to be specifically from one tribe, culture or community; rather, she is a universal representation of Indigenous world cultures.
"In this piece we see the energy illuminating above and around our mother. The light energy represents the natural power of the planet and is meant to be a reminder of how much of a delicate balance the ecosystem is and also shares the imbalanced relationship we have with it as a species.
"Below the central figure we see traditional elements of O’odham culture mixed with the organic vines of Mother Earth reaching up and outwards almost as if she is coming alive to reclaim her land.”
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