Muscogee Creek painter Starr Hardridge recently had a painting acquired by the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The acrylic painting, titled Three Sisters, was painted for the 2024 Mvskoke Art Market in Tulsa, where it won first place in the painting division. A curator from the Philbrook was at the show and nominated the work for acquisition for the museum. Three Sisters entered the distinguished collection soon after.
Starr Hardridge (Muscogee Creek Nation), Three Sisters, acrylic, 36 x 48 in.
“The Three Sisters painting explores concepts of the divine feminine, Indigenous food sovereignty and the collective power of Native community. The Three Sisters method of planting combines the elements of squash, beans and corn. Each element supports the other. Beans naturally absorb nitrogen in the air and convert the nitrates to fertilizer in the soil for the squash and beans. The corn stalk provides the structure for the bean vine to climb and cling to. The squash leaves are broad and provide ample ground cover between the corn and the beans preventing weeds from taking over the field,” Hardridge explains about the work. “These three plants thrive better together than planted separately. This planting method has roots in Mesoamerica and migrated with the Indigenous groups and culture up through the southeastern U.S. region as well as the Southwest dry farming communities and as far north as the Great Lakes.”
The artist continues: “The three women in the painting are Native Oklahoma models and artists with mixed southeastern tribal affiliations chosen for their beauty and physical aspects that represent each element. Each played a role in the color selection of the dresses that were made by my dear friend Cynthia Yerby, a Creek/Seminole dressmaker. I worked closely with her on the pattern and ribbon selection. The modern ribbon dress has come to embody the feminine form of expression for Indigenous women, varying upon tribal affiliation and function. The ribbon dress and ribbons themselves take on a more transcendent role in traditional Mvskoke way of life and ceremony. This painting itself is the result of communal effort. My hope for this piece is to honor the matriarch elements that are the core of Mvskoke tradition, and to demonstrate that Native peoples can thrive when working together just as this ancient method of farming has shown us.” —
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