Community/Nation/Tribe: enrolled citizen of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Tribe
Materials/Processes: Digital photography; Digital image-making; Installation; Mixed-Media; Video
Themes: History; contemporary identity; feminism; womanhood; contemporary life
Online Resources:
Statements/Bios in Artists’ Words:
Growing up on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana, Wendy Red Star was immersed in Crow culture and art. Her father was a rock musician, her uncle was a painter, and her grandmother sewed traditional Apsáalooke regalia and beadwork. When reflecting on her childhood, Red Star said that although the reservation may have been poor economically, “culturally, I grew up very rich.”
Today, Red Star explores her cultural heritage and the role of Native women through a variety of media, including photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts, and performance. Her work has been shown at institutions ranging from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Fondation Cartier pour l’ Art Contemporain in Paris. Her exhibition Wendy Red Star: The Maniacs (We’re Not the Best, But We’re Better Than The Rest), which draws inspiration from her father’s musical career, is on view through March 18 at New Mexico State University, with NEA support.
Red Star has continued to pass down the family’s artistic legacy through her ten-year-old daughter, Beatrice. This mother-daughter duo has been collaborating for four years, and demonstrates what “owning your power” as a Native-American woman looks like. In her own words, Red Star tells the story of her artwork and her culture.
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