Short-Tailed Shearwater Yua (Spirit)

In 2018, I went to Tununak, AK, my family’s home village for the first time in 17 years. One day I was walking on the beach and saw many dead birds washed up, which I had never seen before. My Auntie said that normally those birds are farther north, but they can’t find enough food, so they travel further south and end up dying of starvation. After some research, I learned that the short-tailed shearwater migrates from Australia to the Bering Strait, but they have been dying in large numbers over the last few years due to climate change and their food source is dying off. This mask is a prayer for them. –Artist statement