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In partnership with the Center for Native Futures and the UIC Native American Support Program. 

Expanding on storytelling’s importance in Diné (Navajo) cosmology and philosophy, Dakota Mace’s practice across photography, weaving, beadwork, and installation contends with how land is a carrier of memory. Hózhó (balance) in Diné is articulated through fours: the four cardinal points, the colors black, white, blue, and yellow, and the cross, a motif representing Na’ashjéii Asdzáá (Spider Grandmother). These concepts appear in Mace’s work in a manner that celebrates the oral traditions and craft passed through generations. Her approach to commemorating the plight of Dine ancestors at the hands of the U.S. Army in 1863 has taken the form of cameraless photographic prints, created by exposing light-sensitive paper to natural elements in the Bosque Redondo landscape, where they were interned. For this lecture, Mace delves into the cultural significance of the materials she employs.

ACCESS INFORMATION: This program is free and CART captioning will be available. For questions and access accommodations, email gallery400engagement@gmail.com.

ABOUT

Dakota Mace (Diné) is an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on translating the language of Diné history and beliefs. Mace received her MA and MFA degrees in Photography and Textile Design at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BFA in Photography from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She has worked with numerous institutions and programs to develop dialogue on cultural appropriation and the importance of Indigenous design work. Mace is an MFA in Studio Arts Faculty member at the Institute of American Indian Arts and the photographer for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Center and the Center of Design and Material Culture. Her work is in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Forge Project Collection, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Everson Museum of Art, the Amon Carter Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, among others.