Honor the Earth is excited to announce the grand prize winners of our inaugural artist competition.
Last year, we invited Indigenous and Black artists across the globe to help us envision a Sovereign Indigenous Future — a future beyond colonization, genocide, imperialism, prisons, white supremacy, ableism and all the other modern systemic oppressions.
Meet the Artists
Daisy Demapan
Daisy Demapan, a Chamorro artist from Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, submitted a poem titled “They Call Us, Simiyan Inina”
Artist Statement
Gavin Kendo
Gavin Kendo, a Black artist from Nairobi, Kenya, submitted a series of vibrant paintings depicting a decolonized future.
Artist Statement
“My work imagines a decolonized future by choosing freedom over inherited trauma. I create scenes where people and animals are one with lush green foliage, symbolizing a deep and unbroken connection with Mother Earth. In these imagined landscapes, I see a world unshackled from the colonial legacies that continue to shape how we value ourselves and our time.
By turning to bright, contrasting colors, I reject narratives of struggle and scarcity, and instead envision peace, vibrancy, and abundance. By depicting humans and animals merging with nature, I challenge the colonial separation between “civilization” and the natural world. These works do not seek validation from systems that devalue creativity; rather, they insist that imagination, rest, and harmony are radical acts of resistance.
For me, creating art is both deeply personal and political. It is a way of reclaiming space for joy and invention, where existence is not reduced to labor or survival. It is about healing the wounds of generational trauma by refusing to repeat the scripts handed down through colonization. Each piece becomes a declaration that we can imagine otherwise, that we can shape futures where rest is sacred, creativity is essential, and our relationship with the earth is not extractive but reciprocal.
Through these imagined worlds, I explore what it means to be whole again. My work envisions decolonization not as a return to the past, but as a radical reimagining of the present and the future, where freedom, peace, and unity can take root and flourish.”
Nukte' Lainez
Nukte' Lainez, a two spirit Lepa Wiran/Lenca from Portland, Oregon, submitted a collection of drawings in pen on paper.
Artist Statement
“My name is Nukte' and I am a two spirit lepa wiran/lenca 25 year old, my artwork centers around my lived experience, loved ones and dreams. Being a mmip survivor who was kidnapped and trafficked as a homeless 16-17 year old art is my way of coping and moving through colonial trauma into healing. My art envisions a future free of ableism, transphobia and stigma, going back into tradition of honoring and caring for our people instead of discarding them due to colonial influence, honoring the most sacred among us.”