Melanie Yazzie

Melanie Yazzie (born 1966) is a Navajo sculptor, painter and printmaker.

Background

Melanie Yazzie was born in Ganado, Arizona in 1966.^[1] She is Navajo of the Áshįįhí, born for Tó Dichʼíinii.^[2] She grew up on the Navajo Reservation.^[1]

She first studied art at the Westtown School in Pennsylvania.^[1] Yazzie earned a BFA at Arizona State University in 1990 and an MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1993.

Artwork

Melanie Yazzie works a wide range of media that include printmaking, painting, sculpting, and ceramics, as well as installation art.^[2] Her art is accessible to the public on many levels, while being witty and colorful.

Her subject matter is significant because the serious undertones reference native post-colonial dilemmas. Her work often brings images of women from many indigenous cultures to the fore. Thus her work references matrilineal systems and points to the possibility of female leadership.

A recurring motif in Yazzie's work has been Blue Bird flour sacks,^[2] which provided clothing material during her childhood.

Professional career

Yazzie had lead several collaborative international projects, including ones with artists in Siberia, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Germany.^[1] A recent portfolio, "Hello Kitty and Pocahontas" examined world artists analysis of the commercialization of ethnic identity.

In addition to teaching at the Institute of American Indian Arts, the College of Santa Fe, Boise State University, and the University of Arizona, Yazzie taught at the Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art in France.^[1]

A selection of major exhibitions from the 1990s to present include “Between Two Worlds” (2008) at Arizona State University, "Traveling" at the Heard West Museum (2006), "About Face: Self-Portraits by Native American, First Nations, and Inuit Artists" at the Wheelwright Museum (2005), "Making Connections" (2002) in Bulova, Russia, "Navajo in Gisborne" (1999) in Gisborne, New Zealand and "Watchful Eyes" (1994) at the Heard Museum.

She is an associate professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She teaches two-dimensional art.

The artist is included in books by Zena Pearlstone (About Face), Lucy Lippard (The Lure of the Local) and Jackson Rushing (Native American Art in the Twentieth Century), and collected nationally and internationally in private and public collections.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Bill, Amber. "Artist Bios." C.N. Gorman Museum (retrieved 17 Jan 09)
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Holding the Truth: Reflections of a Navajo Artist" WGBH Forum Network. (Retrieved 17 Jan 09)

External links

• U. Colorado Faculty Profile
• ArtNet

Persondata
Name	Yazzie, Melanie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1966
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death