A Sockeye's Legacy (6.75in L x 2.5in W x 4.27in H)
Artist's statement: "During my work for the Youth Salmon Protectors, I read a book called 'Being Salmon, Being Human'. It dove into philosophy, Norway, and biology. It taught me how to be a better activist and I became more educated on the salmon extinction issue in Idaho and thus, around the world. One of the concepts in the book left me in awe. A term called 'salmon tea' explains the delicate relationship between salmon and their ecosystem. When one of these fish dies, their journey and benefits are long from over. Instead, they saturate the water around them with life-giving carbohydrates and lipids. This raises the river's health and creates a 'tea' that encourages tree root growth, future fry salmon spawning, and provides myriad other animals with nutrients."
Equalizer (5.5in L x 0.4in W x 6.8in H)
Artist's statement: "This horsehair burned mask is wide enough to snugly fit most faces, emphasizing that the numerous keystone species of salmon are equalizers in their endangerment effects. Salmon do not only affect white or native people, or the poor or rich. They take a large part in many relationships, and in some, these fish are a critical way of life. This mask’s resounding theme echoes strongly: Their extinction will affect all of us in some way. A few stanzas from my poem, ‘the salmon people’, are carved into the clay.
'tell them the red road is burning.
tell them it is made of maroon, cycloid scales.
they made your people salmon. salmon meaning endangered, boiling in silted water.
unify this forest, for if the salmon sinks,
aren’t we next? tell them I braided my hair and
went to war.
- a warrior.'"
'tell them the red road is burning.
tell them it is made of maroon, cycloid scales.
they made your people salmon. salmon meaning endangered, boiling in silted water.
unify this forest, for if the salmon sinks,
aren’t we next? tell them I braided my hair and
went to war.
- a warrior.'"
Liz spends her time camping in the mountains of Idaho and swimming in the surrounding rivers. She is the Co-Leader of the Youth Salmon Protectors, a coalition working to save endangered Northwest salmon. This conservation work has driven her to meet with Senators, members of Congress, and artists for t-shirts and mural designs. She volunteers as a wilderness steward for trail restoration, and at a local Buddhist temple. She throws pottery in her free time, rock climbs, and enjoys Oolong tea. She is the first queer All Student Body President at her high school and a rising freshman at Brown University for the class of 2026. She currently works at a local organic plant nursery.