Etherton Gallery is pleased to present our upcoming exhibition highlighting the work of artists Lisa Elmaleh and Douglas Miles. Photographs from Elmaleh’s series Tierra Prometida and mixed media works from Miles' Apacheria will be on view beginning February 11 through May 17, 2025. The artist's powerful visual narratives reveal the fullness and complexity of Native American and immigrant identities, challenging the convenient shorthand of racist portrayals.
"This exhibition brings together two exceptional artists whose work addresses timely and critical issues of migration, identity, and cultural resilience. Lisa Elmaleh’s intimate portraits and Douglas Miles’ powerful storytelling offer an opportunity to engage with these complex themes in a meaningful way. We’re excited to share their work with the Tucson community, a place so deeply connected to these issues, and invite everyone to experience the important conversations their work fosters."
-Terry Etherton, President and Owner of Etherton Gallery
Lisa Elmaleh: Tierra Prometida
As the second Trump administration ramps up a series of mass deportations and seeks to end birthright citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, Lisa Elmaleh’s project feels particularly prescient. Inspired by the political discourse surrounding immigration during the first Trump administration, Elmaleh began working on the series Tierra Prometida in 2020. She documented the experiences of asylum seekers along the US-Mexico border and the humanitarian aid workers supporting them. Informed by the traumatic stories about immigration in her own family, Tierra Prometida explores the myth of the American Dream from the Borderlands perspective, highlighting the lives of people seeking asylum in the US, as well as the volunteers who support them. Elmaleh volunteered with organizations like the Kino Border Initiative, Casa de la Misericordia in Nogales, Sonora, and Catholic Charities in McAllen, TX, and made intimate, large format portraits of the people she encountered, using an 8x10 view camera. This slow, deliberate photographic process fostered meaningful conversations with her subjects, creating a collaborative space that contrasts with the fleeting, depersonalized images seen in mainstream media. Elmaleh’s work offers a counter-narrative to the often-dehumanizing portrayals of migrants, which reduces them to faceless statistics or racist stereotypes. Through portraits of asylum seekers and the volunteers who aid them, Elmaleh highlights individuals as complex people with stories that deserve attention and empathy. Her work emphasizes connection, dignity, and the full scope of identity, encouraging a deeper understanding of the migrant experience and the compassion shown by those who help.
Douglas Miles: Apacheria
Apacheria is a series of mixed-media works by San Carlos Apache artist Douglas Miles, primarily comprising suitcases with lace stencils emblazoned with collaged portraits of Native Americans. Each suitcase features either historic photographs, such as C.S. Fly's portrait of Geronimo, or graffiti-inspired, stylized portraits, bringing together historic and contemporary representations of Apache and Native identity. Miles blends street culture with the suitcase, which symbolizes the burden of displacement and the history of forced migration. This contrast asserts the agency and vitality of Native American culture, challenges historical portrayals and offers a modern, empowered view of indigenous identity. The suitcases are powerful metaphors, evoking the intergenerational trauma of colonialism while celebrating the resilience and strength of Native communities. For Miles, art is a form of activism, and Apacheria is both a physical space to critique systemic issues like land rights, and a conceptual space where culture, identity, and the history of the Apache is celebrated.
About the Artists
Lisa Elmaleh (Guggenheim Fellow, 2024) is an American visual artist and educator based in Hampshire County, West Virginia. She specializes in large-format photography, utilizing traditional processes such as tintypes, glass negatives, and celluloid film. Since 2017, Elmaleh has traveled extensively, documenting the landscapes, people, and cultures of the U.S. from the Appalachian Mountains to the U.S.-Mexico border. Her ongoing project explores migration, identity, and the environment in a time of deep political division. Elmaleh's work invites a conversation on displacement and identity, while her approach to photography reflects a deep commitment to the craft and the stories of those she photographs.
Douglas Miles is a San Carlos Apache-Akimel O’odham artist whose work spans multiple media, including photography, design, filmmaking, and muralism. Miles is known for his engagement with contemporary pop culture, particularly through his Apacheria series, which blends Apache history with modern themes of resistance and survival. His work often serves as a platform for exploring the intersection of Native culture and contemporary issues, empowering Indigenous communities and celebrating their resilience in the face of adversity.
This exhibition was curated by Etherton Gallery's, Shannon Smith.
