Salt-Bitter-Edge-Red Streak into the = Water Girl

Works by Melanie Yazzie

Interpreting the works in this solo exhibition is developed from an understanding of the artist's Navajo identity, personal experiences, and the environment around her.  The title of the exhibition may seem perplexing, but is an amalgamation of her Navajo clans and kinship relationships.  Navajo children are “born into” the mother’s clan and take her clan name, and are “born for” the father’s clan, and when introducing oneself might also include maternal and paternal grandparents clans.  Melanie Yazzie combines the clan names of ‘Salt, Bitter, Edge and Red Streak into the’ as her lineage and the creation of herself as Water Girl.  The names, places and people are a foundation that continues to weave into Yazzie’s life experiences which most recently include her diagnosis with Type 2 Diabetes.

As a printmaker, painter, and sculptor, Melanie Yazzie’s work draws upon her rich Diné (Navajo) cultural heritage. Her work follows the Diné dictum “walk in beauty” literally, creating beauty and harmony. As an artist, she works to serve as an agent of change by encouraging others to learn about social, cultural, and political phenomena shaping the contemporary lives of Native peoples in the United States and beyond. Her work incorporates both personal experiences as well as the events and symbols from Dine culture. 

Artist Talk & Reception
November 20 @ 4-6pm