Amber Webb, (b. 1984)
Meq, 2020
Ink on wood
On loan from the artist

Meqmeans “water” in Yugtun, and for Yup’ik artist Amber Webb, water represents the source of all life. She says, “We are a part of the land welcome from and it is a part of us ... Water and land flow through each other. Whether land is being honored or exploited, women feel that, in one way or another.”

The woman’s body depicted contains many symbols and ideas; Webb draws a parallel between women and land as life-givers. The lamp on the right hand and the bird shapes on the chest represent prayers for the wellbeing of Southwest Alaskan women and their homelands. The masks on the stomach symbolize generations of place-based society.