Native Indigenous Art

Cara Romero

Cara Romero (b. 1977, Inglewood, CA) is a contemporary fine art photographer. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero was raised between contrasting settings: the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, CA and the urban sprawl of Houston, TX. Romero’s identity informs her photography, a blend of fine art and editorial photography, shaped by years of study and a visceral approach to representing Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and lived experiences from a Native American female perspective.

As an undergraduate at the University of Houston, Romero pursued a degree in cultural anthropology. Disillusioned, however, by academic and media portrayals of Native Americans as bygone, Romero realized that making photographs could do more than anthropology did in words, a realization that led to a shift in medium. Since 1998, Romero’s expansive oeuvre has been informed by formal training in film, digital, fine art and commercial photography. By staging theatrical compositions infused with dramatic color, Romero takes on the role of storyteller, using contemporary photography techniques to depict the modernity of Native peoples, illuminating Indigenous worldviews and aspects supernaturalism in everyday life.

Maintaining a studio in Santa Fe, NM, Romero regularly participates in Native American art fairs and panel discussions, and was featured in PBS’ Craft in America (2019). Her award-winning work is included in many public and private collections internationally. Married with three children, she travels between Santa Fe and the Chemehuevi Valley Indian Reservation, where she maintains close ties to her tribal community and ancestral homelands.

Joanelle Romero

Host

Joanelle Romero CEO, Founder, President Red Nation International Film Festival, RNCI Red Nation Awards, Red Nation Television Network Native Indigenous Media Streaming Company (predating Netflix and all other streaming services), Native Women in Film & Television in All Media, RNCI Crew, California Native Indigenous Film Commission, New Mexico Native Indigenous Film Commission, American Indian Heritage Month in the City of Los Angeles, Native Studies Center, Native Indigenous Student Academy for Cinematic Arts and Native Youth Matter – If I Can See It I Can Be It.

Presented by Sycuan Band of of the Kumeyaay Nation and Sycuan Casino Resort and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians

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