Jackson Martin

NOT EVERYTHING IS BLACK & WHITE

On the morning of September 27th, 2024, my family and I were huddled in our living room as the strong winds of Hurricane Helene roared through Western North Carolina. Trees fell all around our house, crushing our car, damaging our roof and breaking sewer and gas lines running to our house. Thankfully, however, we all survived uninjured. What we did not expect over the next several months was the debilitating anxiety and fear each time a new storm descended on our area. Mature trees in our yard that were spared during the hurricane continued to move and sway in the wind, terrifying us with their potential for destruction. Two of these trees were of particular concern - a black oak and a white oak. If they were to fall, one would surely crush the house where my daughter sleeps and the other would crush the house where my son sleeps. After months of back and forth discussion, my wife and I finally decided to have these two beautiful trees removed.

As both an artist and a lover of the natural world, I was moved to create a work of art responding to and honoring these two trees that gave up their lives to protect my family. Interested in themes of both home and travel in my artwork for almost two decades now, I began researching backpack forms for carrying children. I landed on an object found throughout North America, South America, Scandinavia and Central Asia - the Cradleboard. While styles, patterning, symbolism and overall forms are all unique to each indigenous culture, the function of the object remains ubiquitous - a portable carrier for infants. Drawing inspiration from the original purpose of this object, as well as recognizing the various cultures who have utilized it throughout human history, I designed my own simplified version with no intentions of copying any one culture. 

I would like to also show my appreciation and gratitude for the many generations of Cherokee people who have not only created cradleboards to care for their children, but who have cared for and continue to care for their ancestral homelands, which includes the land where my house now sits and where these two beautiful trees were rooted for hundreds of years.