Levi Jackson: The States Project: Utah | LENSCRATCH

Levi Jackson embraces a self-reflective approach towards his culture and place to re-author the great cultural myths of the west. By staging interventions and performances onto the open expanse of desert, he transforms the landscape into a staged set, or backdrop, upon which he interprets the contemporary fallout of manifest destiny and the historical narratives of western frontier expansion. Juxtaposing the rural western experience and the props of his upbringing against the desolation of seemingly empty vistas, Jackson’s nondescript landscapes are hardly void of significance. They speak to a history of Mormon pioneer settlement and the calling of a Mormon prophet bringing a people to Zion. Often referencing specific historical figures and events, or icons of rural redneck culture, his images create parallel narratives of the west. For example, “Leta Leroe” emblazoned on a rock is both primitive pictograph and a trucker mud flap. It is within this context that Jackson orchestrates his photographs resulting in a revised and contemporary western narrative. In the scope of his creative practice, Jackson can be found riding ATVs up museum walls and flying coyote skins in the wind.