Amid Earth Week celebrations, The Colby Echo is exploring the natural world, the role of humans in the Anthropocene, and the implications of individual and collective actions on fostering a greener future. In contribution to this overall theme, the following column offers a brief introduction to the work of artist Michael Namingha, whose creative investigations study climate change and its environmental ramifications via photography.
Namingha is a 2025–2026 fellow of the Lunder Institute for American Art. Through his remote appointment, Namingha divides his time between his offices in New York and New Mexico, where a number of his photographs are taken. The ancestral homelands of the Pueblo people serve as inspiration for much of his work, which chronicles the lasting effects of environmental extractivism, particularly from the oil and gas industries.
When asked about his work, Namingha says, “I like to do what I’m told not to.”
If you were to look at pictures of his work, this profession would seem abundantly clear. Namingha’s approach is unorthodox. Rather than displaying his pictures on flat surfaces, such as in a traditional frame, Namingha projects photographs onto three-dimensional canvases.
Namingha keeps a slideshow portfolio of his work ready to go. One piece, entitled Yupkoyvi, employs a shaped aluminum panel in which a single photograph is depicted across multiple boards. When mounted, the photo protrudes from the wall. The irregular position, which is a common thread throughout his compositions, creates a kind of overlapping form that focuses on both the metaphorical and visual significance of intersections — intersections of planes, of colors, and of landscapes.
Namingha continues to reflect on his atypical process, turning next to his chosen color palette. Rather than embracing natural hues, Namingha avoids the stereotypical forest green or azure blue. He points instead to neon red, pink, and orange pigments.
“I once had a client tell me they liked my piece but wished I used different colors,” Namingha says.
But the colors are exactly the point. “I don’t use pink because I like it,” Namingha says. “I use it because it’s a metaphor.”
Color is intentional. These shades and their relative vibrance are visual representations of the air quality index, Namingha explains. Thus, his photos are often shrouded in pink, orange, red, and maroon, indicators of poor air quality which are typically associated with less ecologically clean areas. In 2022, the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak fire burned for four and a half months, the longest wildfire in New Mexico state history. Namingha, along with thousands of other New Mexicans, was holed up at home, unable to go outside due to the severely low air quality. Just breathing outside was toxic. In an effort to document these climate challenges — the outcomes of extreme droughts, global warming, and the repercussions of economic industrialization — Namingha created art that not only depicted the environment, but contextualized it within the realities of our volatile world.
Moving forward, Namingha hopes to continue exploring the impacts of extractivism and the exploitation of Pueblo homelands. As an homage to his family of potters, Namingha is focusing on multimedia projects. By incorporating sand and rock in his pieces, he aims to convert his primary form, photography, into one where he can “use his hands.” He anticipates that this alteration will spark a greater connection with his ancestral roots.
~ Maya Corrie `29
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