Melanie Yazzie

The prints that I have made for this exhibition are about my childhood in Northern Arizona on the Navajo Nation. My grandmother on my mother's side was a traditional Navajo weaver and she wove in the Wide Ruins style. Her name was Thelma Baldwin and my grandpa was Tom Baldwin. The times spent with my grandmother were filled with long afternoons watching her weave and at times helping her with the spinning of the wool and making yarn balls. My grandfather would be out hearding sheep on his favorite horse Jackie. Once I was allowed to sit on it. That was an awesome day and the print showing an image of Jackie speaks to that day. The images of plants and bright colors are about times when we would be planting corn or other things for us to eat or harvest in the fall. The natural plants and weeds in the area seem to always find their way into my work. The images of women in my work are images of me or my grandmother - they are both of us one and the same. It is all a part of my memory and much of it is very present in my mind today.

I am having my share of health issues and I am using my work to help me through the tougher parts of life. The memories of childhood and growing up on the Navajo Nation are things that fuel much of my work. While most of the pieces shown in this exhibition are reflective of quiet special moments, some aspects of the history of American Indians can be very dark and are also present in my work. Much of the focus is on the positive but at times some of the sad parts creep into the work to add another layer.

Melanie Yazzie is Associate Professor of Art at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Her works belong to many collections inlcuding the Anchorage Museum of History & Art, the Art Museum of Missoula, the Australian National Gallery, the Institute of American Indian Arts, the Kennedy Museum of Art and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and many more. She has exhibited nationally and internationally in places including Alaska, California, New Mexico, New York, Florida, New Zealand, France, Russia, Canada, Estonia, Northern Ireland, Korea, China, South Africa and more to come.