Java.May.2016

This project represents Meders’ vision of reclamation. “In some way, I was masking
the identity of Mexico,” said Meders, “[by] re-layering a new identity on an old
blanket. There are so many indigenous people in Mexico, and we look at them
as ‘Mexican’ because they speak Spanish. But a lot of these people are actually
mestizo—mixed culture. Many of them have been told that they are of Spanish
origin and identify with that.”
The blanket pieces serve to help answer questions that Meders continues to come
back to: How do you make something new out of the old and preconceived? How do
you create a new idea in the shell of history, antiquity and prejudice? These ideas
continue to expand as Meders advances as an artist. “The more that you grow
and the world grows around you, the more that it [your dialogue] grows richer and
richer,” said Meders.
Too Many Capitalists, Not Enough Indians
The printing and dissemination of images was the primary means by which Native
Americans came to be seen as heathens and savages. “When I learned the history
of print and how it applies to Native identity, I was like ‘Wow, here’s a well so deep
that I can dig forever.’ In Europe, some of the first prints showing Natives depicted
them as cannibals running around naked—completely uncivilized—as if they
needed to be controlled and guided. It was a way of justifying a policy of manifest
destiny,” said Meders.
Given this history, Meders tries to utilize printmaking, the old tool of prejudice,
for good. “I’ll use it as a weapon to rebalance the Force, in a way. There are those
collectors who try to possess the ‘Indian,’ and I try to mock that. Their collections
don’t affect me because I am doing something completely different. I contradict that
stuff. I like to use Western aesthetics and processes because they’re familiar to
non-Native people.” Meders essentially uses Western, linear language to tell the
multifaceted history of Native people in images that are authentic.
One of his prints, entitled “Kill the Capitalist, Save the Indian,” takes the old
phrase “Save the Man, Kill the Indian” and remixes it. He created the piece
through his printmaking company, Warbird Press, which is located at The Hive
in central Phoenix. Meders started Warbird about five years ago, just after
he graduated from Arizona State University with an MFA in printmaking. It is an
indigenous-minded press that works primarily with Native artists, but has also
collaborated with non-Natives.
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High School Underachiever, Dean’s List Bachelor
Meders graduated from high school in Florida with a 1.5 GPA. School was
something that got in the way for him. He had to work in order to help his
mother—who was separated from his father—and he liked to surf. From early
on, he gravitated toward art. A lot of people in his family were artists, as well.
Prior to entering high school, Meders just figured that everyone was into art
because of the ubiquity of it while he was growing up. After barely earning
his high school diploma, Meders was determined to get into an art program.
The Savannah College of Art and Design accepted him, based on his portfolio,
with one condition: that he starts the program on academic probation. Not only
did he met the demands of probation, but he made the dean’s list. Going to art
school connected him with his passion for creating.
Besides his professors, another Native artist, Zig Jackson, especially inspired
Meders. Jackson served as a mentor, and at one point he asked Meders
to trade pieces. This was a pivotal moment for Meders. For a while, he had
struggled with the notion of identifying as Native. “It [identity] is a real sticky