Da-ka-xeen Mehner explained

Da-ka-xeen Mehner (born 1970)[1] is a Tlingit/Nisga'a American visual artist whose work includes photography and multimedia installations that incorporate video, sculpture and sound.[2]

Early life and education

Mehner was born in Fairbanks, Alaska to an American father and a Tlingit/Nisga'a mother. He was raised in two cultures; by his mother in Anchorage as an "urban Native" and in Fairbanks as a "rural hippie".[3] His extended family includes several artists, and he was particularly influenced by the photographer Larry McNeil, who is his uncle. In 1990, he left Alaska and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to pursue an education at the Institute of American Indian Arts where he received an AA degree in 1992. He received a BFA from the University of New Mexico in 2003, and an MFA from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 2007.[4] His student work explored themes that included the environment, death and destruction.

Work

Mehner works in photography and installations that combine video, sculpture and sound. His work examines Native American identity and explorations of the self as a cross-cultural person.[5]

He has had solo exhibitions at the State Museum of Alaska, the Museum of the Institute of American Indian Arts,[6] the Anchorage Museum[7] among other venues.

He is currently Professor of Native Art[8] at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where he is the director of the Native Arts Center.

Awards

In 2014 Mehner was awarded with a fellowship from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. In 2015, he was named a fellow by United States Artists in conjunction with the Rasmuson Foundation. Also in 2015 he received a Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship.[9]

Collections

Mehner's work is held in the collections of the University of Alaska Museum of the North, the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, the Alaska State Museum, and the C.N. Gorman Museum. The National Gallery of Canada holds his photographic work in their permanent collection.[10]

See also

Further reading

Conde, Clarke. Arts Interview: Indigenizing Our History, The Monument Project of Da-Ka-Xeen Mehner. Alibi Weekly, July 18, 2019

External links

Notes and References

  1. Jonaitis . Aldona . A Generation of Innovators in Southeast Alaska: Nicholas Galanin, Stephen Jackson, Da-ka-xeen Mehner and Donald Varnell . American Indian Art Magazine . Autumn 2008 . 20 May 2023.
  2. Web site: Da-ka-xeen Mehner . Native Arts and Cultures Foundation . 20 May 2023.
  3. News: amily, Tlingit Culture Inspire Da-ka-xeen Mehner's New Solo Art Exhibition . 20 May 2023 . Alaska Native News . 3 September 2012.
  4. Web site: Da-ka-xeen Mehner . Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship . 20 May 2023.
  5. Web site: Da-Ka-Xeen Mehner's Artist Statement on Self-Constructions . Museums Alaska . 20 May 2023.
  6. Web site: Da–Ka–Xeen Mehner—Saligaaw (It Is Loud-Voiced) . Institute of American Indian Arts . 20 May 2023.
  7. News: Bundy . Jean . Finding My Song at the Anchorage Museum . 20 May 2023 . Alaska Public Media (PBS) . 1 October 2012.
  8. Web site: UAF Department of Art Contacts . University of Alaska Fairbanks . 20 May 2023.
  9. Web site: Da-ka-xeen Mehner . United States Artists . 20 May 2023.
  10. Web site: Da-Ka-Xeen, The Thlingit Artist . The National Gallery of Canada . 3 November 2023.

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