An edited version of this post originally ran on ICTMN.com.
In Chantelle Trista Yazzie?s multimedia installation The Sugar Project: Modern Day Navaho Monster, compelling images of human torsos topped with skeletal heads offer ominous warnings about an entire nation?s future. Made with granulated sugar and marked with Xs in place of eyes and mouths and even heart, these chests and skulls suggest that the sucrose used to make everyday life so sweet is in fact a frightening agent of death. Blinded, muted, cloaked, and head-wrapped, the images sound an alarm from the grave: overconsumption of sugar is killing the people.
Positioned below aged window panes and juxtaposed with photographs of everyday Navaho people, the sugared shapes appear to be in a kind of grave. Even the photographs are alternatively framed and covered by small heaps of sugar that overwhelm them, symbolizing the burden of sugar addiction, the weight of obesity, the gravity of the diabetes epidemic in Indian country. Red Xs on the damaged glass suggest an outside force, perhaps the monster, has marked this spot, identifying Natives as a kind of prey. Words scroll across the video, including the line, “One after another, this monster ate away their faces.”
Who is this monster, exactly? Is it the sugar itself? Is it the addiction to sugar with which so many Natives battle? Is it the dominant culture that has obscured the pre-existing cultures of this land? Who is this monster that, as it says in Yazzie?s video, ?gnawed away Navaho identity??
Yazzie, a Navaho photographer and artist originally from Heart Butte, New Mexico studying Social Work with a minor in Studio Art at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, engaged these and other questions for ICTMN.
1. Are any family members of yours artists?
No one in my family is the typical paint or sketch artist but my grandmother and aunt are great Navajo weavers. My grandmother is 80 years old and her name is Lucy Yazzie and my aunt is Bonnie Yazzie. Both have been weaving their whole lives and I have been fortunate to learn from both of these great women. I myself am a weaver and completed one Navajo rug when I was 13 years old and am working on one now.
2. What influence have these elder artists had on your work?
I believe I have always been exposed to the art world because of my grandma and aunt, and it helped me appreciate my hands. They are sacred tools, which I do not take for granted. My aunt says, ?Your hands tell a story, take care of them and use them.?
3. What inspired or compelled you to produce such a powerful multi-media work focusing on sugar consumption among Navajo people?
Well in all honesty my parents are both pre-diabetic, and I worry about them. I love them and want them to be in my life for a while longer. I never met one of my grandmothers because she died from diabetes. I also know the Navajo Nation has a huge problem with diabetes and obesity on the reservation. I feel a video that is powerful and straight to the point is the only way people will see sugar and foods high in fat are essentially killing them both physically and culturally.
4. What is the name and some background of the chilling story that is told in the video?
I have been learning about the creation story of the Navajo people from books and my grandmother and aunt, and in the story it was said the Holy People released monsters on the land to make sure Navajo people stay in line. Some of these monsters were hunger, thirst, and lice. These were designed to help us, so we had to work to satisfy hunger and thirst and stay clean to avoid lice. I used this concept of ?monster? to show the Navajo people that we have created our own monster and, slowly, it is killing us, and now we have to work with one another to kill this monster. The windows and piece outside resemble the fact that everything that ever mattered doesn?t anymore. The kids, food, and spending time with others can?t compare to what sugar can do. The last part of the video merely states that we need to take control of our bodies before we leave our children and the next generation – empty frames.
5. Please explain what these lines mean to you:
“No longer were man and woman together.”
With the creation of this monster, relationships aren?t what they used to be. The greed and desire for sugar is much too great and exceeds the desire to maintain and cultivate relationships. It is said in the creation story that man and woman need to be together for the Navajos to flourish. I feel sugar is coming in between relationships and disturbing this balance of relationship which thus distorts what it means to be a Navajo.
“One after another, this monster ate away their faces.”
I feel sugar is eating away at the core of Navajo identity. It is changing the beautiful faces of the Navajo people and creating faceless, skull-like creatures. The hunger for sugar in foods is changing the people.
“Words ceased to exist.”
By words I meant like words that express affection. Words like ?I love you? and ?I care for you.? The Navajo language I think is not a ?love? language because there aren?t many words for it. There are a few but usually these are taken very seriously. I am afraid these words will be misused for material things like sugar. These precious words will disappear or be used in the wrong context. For instance a grandmother might start saying, ?I love you sugar? instead of ?I love you my grandchild.? This is my biggest fear.
“Mouths would soon close entirely.”
This goes along with the whole concept of using affectionate language in the wrong way to the wrong things.
6. What was the process of creating The Sugar Project: Modern Day Navajo Monster like?
I had envisioned this project for a long time now. My sketchbook had a lot of what I called ?The Sugar People? who were characters I created. I sort of fell in love with them and wanted to create them in real life. My friend told me I was turning into an artist and that she was quite afraid of what I might do with these ?Sugar People.? It did not take long for the idea to form; I always knew what I wanted to do and how I wanted to go about it. It took me about two days to do the installation. I worked in that basement for hours on both days. It was kind of an addiction. I did not want to stop.
7. With your use of Xs on skull-like figures, your work suggests quite explicitly that sugar equals death. The use of photographs, the broken window, and red Xs over the glass only reinforce this theme.
Sugar essentially will be the death of the people both physically and culturally. As I stated before, it is essential for elements of the Navajo culture for man and woman to be together. Without this balance a lot of things could go wrong. In this case, I am portraying just that. Families are torn apart and people begin to die off. The language disappears, which essentially kills the essence of what it means to be a Navajo. I think both sugar and addiction are the monsters. I tried to depict sugar as being this beautiful, sparkly incentive in my photos and art piece. It does draw you in and it does make food more appealing.
8. I’d like you to talk about the powerful use of sugar as medium in your installation. The white color, the fact that it is spread on the floor to form human torsos and skull-like heads in an almost coffin-like space, and the way it could be seen to resemble an illegal drug like cocaine or meth all develop the theme of your work. Why did you choose to work with sugar as a medium?
I chose sugar because it had a great texture and was fairly easy to work with. Sometimes artwork can be hard to interpret so I wanted to make sure people would get the message that sugar is a killer to the people. I wanted my artwork to be straightforward and direct. The use of sugar depicts, to me, at least, that it is readily available and easy to get in large amounts.
9. What, if anything, do you do to stay healthy and prevent or control diabetes in your own body?
Well I LOVE to dance. I don?t like to do it in front of anyone but I love doing it! Usually my roommate goes to work and during that time I boogey! My favorite song to dance to right now is Don Omar?s Danza Kuduro!
10. Is there anything else that you want to say to ICTMN readers?
I just hope that I can convey this message as accurately as I can to as many people as possible. I love my people with a passion. I love where I am from, the stories, the traditions, and I want my kids to see the beauty in everything Navajo. I don?t want to leave empty frame spaces anymore.