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

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". His extended family includes several artists, and he was particularly influenced by the photographer

Larry McNeil Larry McNeill (January 31, 1951 – December 29, 2004) was an American National Basketball Association player. College career McNeill played at college basketball at Marquette University, with the Warriors. Professional career McNeill was draf ...

, 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. 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. He has had solo exhibitions at the State Museum of Alaska, the Museum of the Institute of American Indian Arts, the Anchorage Museum among other venues. He is currently Professor of Native Art 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 The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports Native American artists, culture bearers, and Native-led arts organizations, providing them with support through fellowships and project funding. ...

. 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.

Collections

Mehner's work is held in the collections of the

University of Alaska Museum of the North The University of Alaska Museum of the North is a cultural and historical museum on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. Mission The museum's mission is to acquire, conserve, investigate, and interpret specimens and collections relating to ...

, the

Anchorage Museum of History and Art The Anchorage Museum is a large art, history, ethnography, ecology and science museum located in a modern building in the heart of Anchorage, Alaska. It is dedicated to studying and exploring the land, peoples, art and history of Alaska. The mu ...

, the

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic ...

, the Alaska State Museum, and the

C.N. Gorman Museum C.N. Gorman Museum is a museum focused on Native American and Indigenous artists, founded in 1973 at University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in Davis, California. History The C.N. Gorman Museum was founded in 1973 by the Department of Nativ ...

. The National Gallery of Canada holds his photographic work in their permanent collection.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehner, Da-ka-xeen People from Fairbanks, Alaska Tlingit people American photographers 21st-century Native American artists Native American photographers American installation artists 1970 births Living people