Dakota Mace is a Diné (Navajo) artist and researcher who focuses on the cultural appropriation of Indigenous design-work, material culture, and textile history. 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 developed workshops and lectures that focus on the appropriation and influence of Indigenous design work within fashion and popular culture. Her work as an artist and researcher has been exhibited nationally as well as internationally at various conferences and galleries.
Dakota Mace
Statement
This exhibition explores Diné traditions and its relationship to memory and land. Diné beliefs are built upon narratives and symbols that teach us hózhó, the balance within ourselves. Through the color łichííʼ (red), I explore the past, present, and future with forms inspired by Kinétah (land). The materials I use, both traditional and non- traditional, are connected to the places they reside, the memories that they hold, and the complexities that they share to our lineage. Art is essential to our beliefs and can be seen as a lifeline within our culture, our land, and the histories that are a part of our identity. With each connection, tradition remains central to the fundamental understanding of the Diné, a line between one generation to the next. It is Nihá (for us).
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