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SMoCA’s ‘Life on Mars’ exhibition features new works by Erika Lynne Hanson, Steven Yazzie

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — In the forthcoming exhibition “Life on Mars,” opening June 14, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) brings together works by two artists that link the physical and metaphysical realities of nature, humanity, geology and cosmology.

With David Bowie’s 1971 song “Life on Mars?” providing inspiration, artists Erika Lynne Hanson and Steven J. Yazzie intermingle traditional craft and Indigenous knowledge with technology and abstraction, illuminating the relative quickness of human gesture to planetary longevity­ — a view of Earth as the endgame.

“When curating exhibitions with more than one artist, I avoid direct themes or narratives and opt for providing a prompt that relates to the artists’ practices, which also leaves room for revelations during the viewing process,” said Lauren R. O’Connell, curator of contemporary art at SMoCA. “Looking at the complexity of our world through art offers paths toward new thoughts and perspectives.”

The exhibition features all new works by Hanson and Yazzie in various mediums, including textile, sculpture, ceramic, painting, video and photography. These new works reimagine Earthly land and resources as surreal and abstract entities, simultaneously conjuring the allure of fantasy and the sublime of reality. 

Yazzie, a Denver-based artist, said the work he is developing for the exhibition is a multifaceted exploration of his connection to land and time. It delves into the intricate interplay between the embodied experience through travel, experimental documentation and abstraction of natural forms and the material reality of site-specific locations that are both personally and culturally meaningful.

The Bowie song became an “intriguing” prompt as Yazzie created art for the exhibition.

“The themes in the song are layered with enigmatic, surreal imagery and social commentary, and the lyrics also suggest a longing for escape or something better beyond our world,” Yazzie said. “There’s also a feeling of reflection on alienation, consumerism and the search for meaning.”

Yazzie said these themes are reflected in the exhibition’s exploration of humankind’s connection to the land, the passage of time and the material and abstract elements that shape existence. He hopes the various elements of “Life on Mars” will encourage viewers to consider their place in the world.

Hanson, a Phoenix-based artist, noted how the exhibition’s premise highlights Earthly elements that strike the same sense of otherworldly wonder, inquiry or mystery that Mars evokes. Among these terrestrial inspirations are mine sites and quarries that provide materials for human infrastructure and landscape design. Through her textile work, Hanson creates abstracted landscape maps that nod to complications of the current moment in the American Southwest.

The two artists had not met until O’Connell brought them together for this exhibition. As Hanson learned about Yazzie’s work, she was struck by how they similarly use video practice.

“There is an ability to brush closer to reality in video,” Hanson said. “We are both using landscape imagery and altering it in a way that asks the viewer to question what they have just seen. I like how the video work in the exhibition situates the viewer in various locations in the desert Southwest — from urban to rural, with various modes of human intervention.”

“Life on Mars” is organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Lauren R. O’Connell, curator of contemporary art. It will run from June 14 through Sept. 14, 2025.

SMoCA — named “Best Art Museum” in the Best of Phoenix awards — is located at 7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. It is open Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit SMoCA.org for information.

Admission is $13–$16 for non-members; $10–$13 for students, seniors (65+) and veterans; and free for Scottsdale Arts ONE Members, healthcare workers, first responders, and patrons 18 and younger. Admission to the museum is pay-what-you-wish every Thursday and every second Saturday of the month. Save time and money by booking online at SMoCA.org.