MEET DEMIAN DINÉYAZHI’

“As a Queer Artist of Color, I believe mentorship is necessary to help guide our community as we reaffirm the importance of our voices in the presence of so much violence and indifference… My interest in mentoring is not only a way to give back to community, but to empower emerging artists to challenge dominant hegemonic power structures through their respective practices.”

Demian DinéYazhi´ is an Indigenous Diné Non-Binary Trans transdisciplinary artist born to the clans Naasht’ézhí Tábaahá (Zuni Clan Water’s Edge) and Tódích’íí’nii (Bitter Water) living in Portland, OR. They received their BFA in Intermedia Arts from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2014, where they were awarded the Thesis Writing Award and the Intermedia Arts Department award for their curatorial project, Bury My Art At Wounded Knee: Blood and Guts in the Art School Industrial Complex. They are the founder of R.I.S.E.: Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment, an activist initiative dedicated to the education and amplification of Indigenous art and culture. DinéYazhi´ is the founder of the Indigenous artist/activist initiative, R.I.S.E.: Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment. They have recently exhibited at Portland Biennial, Honolulu Biennial, Biennale of Sydney, Vielmetter Los Angeles, Wexner Center for the Arts, Whitney Museum of American Art, Henry Art Gallery, Pioneer Works, CANADA, NY; and Cooley Art Gallery. They are the recipient of the Henry Art Museum’s Brink Award, Hallie Ford Fellow in the Visual Arts, and Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellow. DinéYazhi´ is the author of Ancestral Memory, An Infected Sunset, and We Left Them Nothing.

Through research, mining unconventional community archives, and community collaboration, DinéYazhi´ highlights the intersections of Radical Indigenous Queer Feminist identity and political ideology while challenging the white noise of contemporary art. Their work disrupts traditional and professional spaces by challenging the viewer and the reader in order to undo unethical manmade societal constructs that prioritize colonial mythologies and manipulative strategies that betray cosmic joy and evolution. DinéYazhi´'s creative practice enacts a transdisciplinary strategy through vibrant, radiating neon signs; letterpress posters reimagined from social media posts; self-published books printed collaboratively with BIPOC communities; or endurance performances and sonic collaborations that unsettle remnants of colonial assimiliative conditioning that are stored in the body. Their work across mediums is a calculated pursuit that honors migratory and revolutionary histories tied to the resiliency of Indigenous, Trans, 2Spirit, and Queer communities.