Matthew Chase-Daniel

 Intersection is an acknowledgment of the moments when our lives meet one another and the earth—moments that become places of care. 

While making this work in Northern New Mexico, I was watching one of our precious watersheds burn, signing petitions to oppose potential oil and gas leasing around sacred Chaco Canyon, and hearing of immigrant community members living in fear of violence and displacement. 

These experiences became part of the mural’s emotional landscape, reflecting a shared desire to protect one another and sustain our relationships with the land and more-than-human life. 

The figures within Intersection carry representations of relationships, histories, and challenges that span across time— through water sources, human-made borders, and environmental impacts. They express love through acts of holding and care as they move toward a shared center: a small pile of earth, their home. 

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Eliza Naranjo Morse is a life long community member of Northern New Mexico who participates in various efforts to engage in, continue on and create expressions about being human in the world where continuing earth relationships are central themes. 

Eliza was born in 1980, and is a mixed culture Tewa woman who makes her life and work along the Rio Grande. Eliza has been fortunate to share her art locally and internationally, work as the Cultural Arts Teacher for the Kha’p’o Community School, work with the Stars and Seeds Flow Fund and serve on the boards of Voices in Contemporary Art (VoCA) and the Santa Clara Pueblo Library. ​

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