ELISA HARKINS
ARTIST BIO
Elisa Harkins is a Cherokee/Muscogee artist and composer, born in 1978 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Based on the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation, Harkins's work integrates Indigenous languages and cultural narratives through performance, visual art, and music. She has exhibited and performed widely, with recent highlights including presentations at The Getty Museum, the Spoleto Festival, and the MCA Chicago. Her innovative projects, such as Wampum / ᎠᏕᎳ ᏗᎦᎫᏗ and Radio III / ᎦᏬᏂᏍᎩ ᏦᎢ, reflect her commitment to exploring contemporary Indigenous identities. Harkins received the Creative Capital "Wild Futures" Award in 2024.
ARTIST PROJECT INFO
Verses is an album and performance project connecting Indigenous song traditions, Muscogee language revitalization, and contemporary technology. Drawing from Muscogee hymns, Elisa Harkins combines voice, vocoder, synthesizers, hand drum, woodwinds, and analog electronics while honoring the songs' cultural and spiritual significance. Created with Dan Quinlivan, Cooper Crain, and Rob Frye, the project includes research, arrangement, recording, mixing, and mastering. It will culminate in a professionally produced album and an intimate live performance in Tulsa, followed by an artist conversation exploring collaboration, instrumentation, Indigenous futurity, and the continued life of these songs.
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