Ni Sin Mo’ Meh / To Weave Water
A Solo Exhibition by Jacob Meders
(Mechoopda/Maidu, Konkow, Wintun/Nomlaki)
On Display March 11-April 9, 2023
About Ni Sin Mo’ Meh / To Weave Water
Ni Sin Mo’ Meh / To Weave Water is a body of work that builds on the cultural connection between the Native Hawaiians or Kanaka Maoli of Sutter’s 1839 expedition and the Maidu families with whom they bonded.
This connection is about more than the shared social position of being forced laborers in a particular colonial moment.
It is also about Indigenous peoples’ from different parts of the world who share a philosophical and spiritual approach to water, specifically the movement, elements, and rhythm of water.
Willow sourced from Chico, California in Mechoopda territory is used in this work not only because of its traditional weaving capacity but also because of its medicinal healing capabilities and connection to mo’meh/water.
This exhibition is part of RedLine’s 2022-2023 Roots Radical exhibition program.
About Jacob Meders
Jacob Meders is a member of the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, California. He presently lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Jacob possesses a BFA in painting with a minor in printmaking from Savannah College of Art and Design and a MFA in printmaking at Arizona State University.
In 2011, Jacob established WarBird Press, a fine art printmaking studio that he operates as the Master Printmaker in Phoenix, AZ. Currently Jacob also is an Associate Professor in Interdisciplinary Arts & Performance at Arizona State University, Glendale, AZ.
Jacob has exhibited his work in Divided Lines at The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, NM, Agents of Change An Exhibition of Artist’ Books with a Social Conscience in Gallery 31 at the Corcoran, Washington DC, Something Old, Something New: Nothing Borrowed Recent Acquisitions from the Heard Museum Collection, at The Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ, Illustrious at The Heard North Scottsdale Museum in Scottsdale, AZ and Transcending Traditions at Mesa Contemporary Arts in Mesa, AZ.
His work is collected by major universities and other institutions in the United States and internationally. Jacob has also gained recognition as an influential public speaker and has traveled nationally and internationally to speak on topics within the indigenous contemporary art world.
Jacob’s work focuses on altered perceptions of place, culture, and identity built on the assimilation and homogenization of indigenous peoples. This work reexamines varied documentations of Native Americans through printing processes that hold on to stereotypical ideas and how they have affected the culture of the native people. Using bookforms and prints as a symbol of western knowledge and the linear mind, Jacob deploys them as a vehicle to challenge new perceptions of Native Americans.
About the Roots Radical Exhibition Program at RedLine
Every year, RedLine hosts exhibitions within a social justice-focused Exhibition Program. Our 2022-2023 Exhibition Program is titled Roots Radical: An Exploration into Indigenous Ancestry and Experience.
