they are witty and transform themselves in order to guide us (2025)
Jeffrey Gibson, an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and convener celebrated for his work in painting, installation, video, and performance, drew upon Indigenous kinship philosophies to create nashoba holba / wayaha / coyote.
A testament to the importance and intelligence of the animal kingdom, the sculpture invites viewers to consider what animals have endured, and the lessons they may be able to teach us.
nashoba holba / wayaha / coyote is one of four sculptures commissioned from Gibson by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for its 2025-2026 Genesis Façade Commission, each of which depicts an anthropomorphized animal, in this case a coyote. Within North American Indigenous mythology, the coyote’s specific meaning varies, but it is generally depicted as a cunning trickster and agile shapeshifter.
Known to reference various forms of Indigenous regalia throughout his multidisciplinary practice, Gibson’s coyote is embellished with the pelt of another coyote, which it wears draped around its shoulders like a cape, and necklaces of berries and beads. The sculpture is the result of a labor-intensive process that began with mixed-media maquettes and concluded with cast bronze sculptures that were produced with U.A.P. (Urban Art Projects), a foundry in Newburgh, New York.