Artist Shawnee Hill invites self-reflection with RoCo wall installation 

Rochester Contemporary Art Center continues its presentation of monumental, meditative public artwork on its outer wall with visual artist Shawnee Rebekah Morning Dove Hill’s “Deconstruction of the Mind,” which is on view through May 15.

Previously, RoCo’s park-facing wall was adorned with Thai artist Ong Siraphisut’s installation of mirrored tiles that left negative space, which spelled out the word “Breathe.” The artist said his work was meant to get viewers to pause to reflect and feel gratitude, a poignant prompt amid the pandemic and political upheaval that divided communities.

Hill created an installation with a similar aim. The three giant reproductions of her oracle card drawings could certainly stop passersby in their tracks.

Pale washes of color are layered with stark and intricate linework to form illustrations of two figures with divine feminine energy that flank a central image of a hand, and each card bears a written message to match its visual symbolism. The words “Finding Self” and “Inner Wisdom” accompany the powerful figures, while “Release” is spelled out below the hand, its open palm punctured with a star shape and its fingertips floating off into the wide-open sky. This hand can no longer grasp unnecessary things. They slip right through.

“These are meditation pieces, for dealing with whatever you’re dealing with,” Hill said. “That’s what creating art has always done for me, and I’m realizing that is what I want to share.”
Curatorial text posted to a light pole explains that the work is a guide for doing the work of looking within yourself toward your truth, letting go of what isn’t right for you, and honoring your ancestors who set your path.



Hill is having a banner year so far. There’s this installation, for one. She’ll discuss the mural at a First Friday artist’s talk planned for Feb. 3 at RoCo. And she also took part in a live painting competition in Toronto in late December.

The affirmative, soul-centering messages in Hill’s work are meant to be encouraging to everyone, but they also serve as a reminder to Hill, who is doing the tough work of transitioning into working as a full-time artist and pursuing a deeper relationship with her Indigenous heritage.

“It’s really exciting to take that journey and really be honest with who I am, and what that heritage is, and honor that,” Hill said. “Because the more I'm finding out about it, the more it feels like home.”

Rebecca Rafferty is CITY's life editor. She can be reached at [email protected].