Toba: Selected Works
In the Choctaw language, ‘toba’ translates as ‘made, created’.
To me, ‘toba’ means to learn, open up to learning, and to become. To create with my hands with materials I have foraged, recycled, or made gives me the feeling of infinite creation, that everything is possible and that everything is within and without me. My Choctaw Grandmother taught me to not question myself but to understand what it is around me and to use my knowledge to make decisions that are best for everyone.
‘My current work is about my Choctaw roots and family, and how they have taught me and continue to teach me how to question, look, and listen. This work is based on self exploration, learning through experimentation and the art of listening to the self.’ - Juliette
Holisso Pisa can mean student, but it is much more than that. She is open to receive teaching, but is just as open to share her knowledge in order to be understood. She has one hand open and one on her heart, in order to receive and to give at the same time.
Tallulah
She represents my growing feeling of resonance and building a language for myself that reflects my Choctaw heritage. Tallulah is a Choctaw word that conveys sparkling or splashing water, and to me this image of sparkling, splashing water represents sparks of remembrance, recognition, and inspiration.