Sinking Canoe

Nobuho Nagasawa, 1990 to 1992

Sinking Canoe by Nobuho Nagasawa evokes early forms of transportation of the Gabrielinos.

The first known humans to live in the Anaheim region were present at least twenty thousand years ago but little evidence of their life remains. More recently, in approximately 2,000 B.C.E., the Gabrielinos and Juanenos tribes settled in the coastal plains of the area. The Gabrielinos were the only native North Americans to use planks in constructing their canoes.

The light forms projected from the canoe onto the ceiling above are based on Gabrielino symbols and iconography. Caught sinking into the parking stall, the viewer encounters the canoe unexpectedly, in a meeting that is at once absurd, comical, and meaningful.