Gail Werner

Mukikmalim, Su'ulim, Chem-tema-ki'ay (Birds, Stars, Our Lands), 2023
7836 Herschel Avenue

8' x 69'
Ashley LaMontagne and Thomas Picquet, Charles Myers and Armone Sullivan – Wall Sponsors

Gail Werner’s mural, Mukikmalim, Su'ulim, Chem-tema-ki'ay (Birds, Stars, Our Lands), is a painterly homage to the artist’s ancestral land and indigenous family history. Werner descends from three tribes located in San Diego County, Cupeño, Luiseño, and Kumeyaay, and the title of the mural is first written in the Cupeño language. Three unique birds, a Black-throated Sparrow, a Rock Wren, and a Cactus Wren (pictured above, from left to right), are visually woven into a vibrant and undulating landscape, rich with symbolic references.

The bird imagery is inspired by traditional Southern California Native American songs, called Bird Songs, and the accompanying dance, the Bird Dance. These songs and dance weave a story of how the people came to be where they are and the accompanying journey that brought them to this land, which is said to parallel the migration of the birds. Beyond the birds, visual references throughout the mural continue to tell the story of these tribes: a grinding rock, where women would grind acorns, can be found in the left frame, and the patterned symbols dispersed across the sky and around the central bird are inspired by the woven basketry design that Southern California Indigenous people, including Gail’s great grandmother, noted basket maker Salvadora Valenzuela, are recognized for.

While this mural is a dynamic tribute to the artist’s ancestry, there is also a darker side to this history. As is the part of the story with many Indigenous tribes, her forebears were forcibly removed from their ancestral village in 1903. In Werner’s reverence for this complexity, she thoughtfully interweaves these many elements to evoke a visceral sense of journey and place.

Gail Werner received a BA from California State University, San Diego in 1978 and went on to receive an MFA from California State University, Long Beach in 1985. She uses a combination of painting, drawing, printmaking, and encaustic media in her artwork. Pulling from elements of landscape, color, light and imagery, abstract designs, stories, and songs, she creates both abstract and representational narratives rich with cultural and personal history.

Werner’s work has been featured in many notable institutions. A solo exhibition of her work was presented at the Merced College Art Gallery in California. Other California institutions where her work has been featured include Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton; Santa Ana College Art Gallery; Los Angeles County Arboretum; Centro Cultural De La Raza, San Diego; La Jolla Historical Society; and Long Beach Museum of Art. Out of state institutions include Coos Art Museum; Coos Bay, Oregon; Center of Corpus Christi in Texas; and the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis. Her work is also held in many significant private and public collections. Gail lives and works in Long Beach, California.

Photos by Philipp Scholz Rittermann