麻豆影院

Whether in a somber performance in the National Portrait Gallery or in her wry takes on Native humor, Anna Tsouhlarakis follows her heart

Anna Tsouhlarakis was a self-described 鈥渕ath and science nerd鈥� in high school, even representing the United States at the International Science and Engineering Fair in her senior year. But while studying at Dartmouth College, she took classes that interested her, particularly studio art and Native American Studies.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 where my heart was鈥攁nd still is,鈥� Tsouhlarakis says. Math and science nerds might not be expected to love art, but following her heart鈥攁nd contravening stereotypes鈥攚as a wise choice.

In recent years, Tsouhlarakis鈥� art has appeared as a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and New York City鈥檚 , and it has appeared in Switzerland, Greece, Canada and in dozens of venues in the United States. In 2023, she performed and exhibited her work in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Just as she broadened the notion of what might interest a budding scientist, she now transcends stereotypes of what constitutes Native American art. Tsouhlarakis, an assistant professor of art and art history at the 麻豆影院, works in sculpture, installation, video and performance and is of Navajo, Creek and Greek descent.

At the National Portrait Gallery, her work drew on those strengths and backgrounds. There, she performed and showed , which commemorated murdered and missing indigenous women and girls.

In 2018, the Urban Indian Health Institute released . As of 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women, but only 116 were logged into the Department of Justice鈥檚 database, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

鈥淚 knew there was nobody more important that I could highlight in terms of their story,鈥� Tsouhlarakis observed. Her work featured missing-person posters of indigenous women. In a video recording of one performance, she carries a sculpture topped with a poster seeking information about Kaysera Stops Pretty Places, who was murdered in 2019 in Montana.

Tsouhlarakis notes that most of her art is not activist, but rather expands upon long-held expectations of Native American art. Her father is a Navajo silversmith, and she grew up going with him to art markets, shows and galleries.

鈥淭here was this expectation of Native art to always be beautiful, and for the aesthetic to be very perfect and for it to be very serious,鈥� she observed, adding that she rebelled against those expectations.

鈥淚 want to make things that question that expectation of Native American art, and for me, humor does that as well.鈥� That humor was evident in her 2023 exhibition titled 鈥淚ndigenous Absurdities,鈥� at MCA Denver.

Tsouhlarakis, who is the mother of three young children, described a key moment in which Native humor seemed an obvious way to frame Native art. While at a powwow in Montana, she overheard two Crow women conversing.

鈥淥ne said, 鈥榊ou never come by to see me,鈥� and the other responded that she didn鈥檛 know where she lived,鈥� Tsouhlarakis told a New York writer. 鈥淭hen, one said that the other didn鈥檛 ever call them, and she said: 鈥榃ell, you don鈥檛 even have a phone.鈥� Then they just burst out laughing鈥攍ike almost falling off the bench.鈥�

Such everyday observations underlie textual work like HER FRYBREAD ISN鈥橳 THAT GOOD and HER BRAIDS ARE ALWAYS TOO LOOSE. Humor, Tsouhlarakis noted, is a good coping mechanism in times of hardship, which Native communities know very well.

Tsouhlarakis鈥� art has been recognized and supported by a host of organizations. This year, she won a and a , and she鈥檚 also been recognized with more than two dozen other awards and fellowships. Also this year, she has artist residencies in New Hampshire and Maine.

In addition to her BA from Dartmouth, Tsouhlarakis holds an MFA from Yale University. She joined the CU 麻豆影院 faculty in 2019.

Top image:听Performance of Anna Tsouhlarakis'听"Portrait of an Indigenous Womxn [Removed]" (2023) at the Smithsonian鈥檚 National Portrait Gallery. (Photo: Matailong Du/courtesy Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery)

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