WESHOYOT, 2021

This portrait is of Weshoyot Alvitre, an amazing illustrator and Tongva descendant, and was taken underwater in May of 2021 in Long Beach, California. Thank you Weshoyot for trusting me to take your portrait, to learn about you as a person and all the stories and the ancestors you carry with you. It was an honor to spend hours free diving with you creating a moment in the cosmos that carries so much of you and of me— tying our collective consciousness together. Thank you Cindi Alvitre and Craig Torres for providing us with the beautiful accoutrement of the Tongva women, so that it could be seen. The headpiece is made of shells and the basket is for gathering. The fishing nets remind us of Weshoyot’s grandfather and the cottonwood bark skirt by Leah Mata Fragua that floated so beautifully in the salt water. I hope you felt weightless in the water with me. Please follow her work @weshoyot and @tongvaland and support her endeavors as she takes on the work of her people and land.

Collections: Arizona State Museum, and The Autry Collection