PHOENIX, ARIZONA.- A new, complex multi-media based installation combined with photography by Navajo artist Will Wilson will highlight the new exhibit Will Wilson: Auto Immune Response opening on Saturday, November 6, 2004. Wilson’s work focuses on Navajo people and their relationship to the land. The exhibit is part of the exhibition series Artspeak: New Voices in Contemporary Expression.

The complex photo-based installations combine photography and multi-media displays, and focuses on Navajo people and their relationship to the land. The exhibit is part of the exhibition series Artspeak: New Voices in Contemporary Expression presented by the Heard Museum.

"In my work there are stories that I grew up with, stories bringing together the cultural weave from which I come. These stories are personal to me as an individual and as a member/citizen of a people, therefore they must be presented and received with respect," Wilson says. "I want my work to strengthen Indians with examples of resistance, and the possibilities of controlling one's own representation."

Will Wilson, Navajo, was born in San Francisco and moved permanently to the Navajo Reservation at the age of 10. He attended the Bureau of Indian Affair's Tuba City Boarding School from 1978 to 1983 and also attended prep schools. Wilson has worked in a variety of media and has produced large-scale multi-media installations that incorporate photography and sculpture, monumental art pieces and intimate photo essays.