Yanhaku (Breathe In)

Remember the dance between ecosystems and people as they breathe to balance and sustain one another.

Exploring dryland ecology and climate science through the Shiwi lens, artist Mallery Quetawki visited flux towers operated by ecologist Dr. Marcy Litvak at the University of New Mexico during her yearlong residency. The research sites span ~5,000 ft in elevation from desert grassland and creosote shrub-land to juniper savanna, piñon-juniper woodland, ponderosa pine forest, and subalpine mixed conifer stands. Flux towers are equipped with sensors that measure flows of water and carbon between the land and atmosphere. The wind carries the memory of landscape processes and scientists use these data to understand how ecosystems respond to climate and disturbance and shape water and carbon cycles.

Working with soil and plant materials collected from the research sites, scientific datasets, and Indigenous knowledge, Quetawki created the Yanhaku (Breathe In) series,place-based artworks that integrate ecological and cultural layers. She used yucca root and yucca spears to make paper as well as hematite, Christmas cholla and wild tea as pigments. The carbon flux seasonal cycles visualized with Zuni symbolism evoke the breath in and out of the ecosystems.

Photographs of flux tower spread along the New Mexico Elevation Gradient sites, including the Ponderosa Pine (US-Vcp), Pinyon Juniper woodland (US-Mpj), and Desert Shrubland (US-Ses) sites with details of beetle borings, yucca, and christmas berry.

Aweklan Tsit’da, or Mother Earth, has many moving parts and living entities from the atmosphere to soils of the lands we live on. In Zuni culture, the meaning of breathing in (Yeh’chu) and adding breath (Binnan Dehliyah:u) is the action of gratitude for what Mother Earth has given us to be here today and to continue the song, dance and prayer for continued breath.

The Southwest presents drought and temperature extremes and its habitants have adapted to co-survive these harsh elements by utilizing the seasonal availability of water, plant, and mineral resources to sustain both life and tradition. What may appear sparse on the surface in drylands becomes a place rich with biodiversity, memory, and natural gifts.

Mallery created place-based pieces that visualize the carbon exchange between plants, soil and air. She used yucca root and yucca spears to make paper as well as hematite, Christmas cholla and wild tea as pigments collected from the research sites.
Binnan Dehliyah:u (Adding breath), 2025, yucca plant fibers, natural pigments, 8" x 8" inches (x4).
Yeh’chuna:we (Breathing in), 2025, natural clay, yucca plant fibers, natural pigments, 5" x 7" (x4).
Yanhaku, 2025, natural clay, yucca plant fibers, natural pigments, 4" x 24" (windchime).