Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie

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Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie
Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie.jpg
Tsinhnahjinnie speaking at a panel in 2015 in San Francisco, California
Born (1954-08-26) August 26, 1954 (age 67)
Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America
NationalityAmerican Seminole-Muscogee-Navajo
EducationInstitute of American Indian Arts
California College of the Arts
University of California, Irvine
Known forphotography, videography
Notable work
, , ,
AwardsEiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art, Chancellor's Fellowship at the University of California Irvine, First Peoples Community Artist Award, Rockefeller artist in residence

Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie[pronunciation?] (born 1954) is a Seminole-Muscogee-Navajo photographer, curator, and professor living in Davis, California.

Background[]

Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie was born into the Bear Clan (Taskigi) of the Seminole Nation and born for the Tsi'naajínii Clan of the Navajo Nation. Her mother, Minnie June Lee McGirt-Tsinhnahjinnie (1927[1]-2016), was Seminole and Muskogee and her father, Andrew Van Tsinajinnie (1916-2000), was Navajo.[2] Her father was a painter and muralist who studied at the Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[3]

Tsinhnahjinnie was born in 1954 in Phoenix, Arizona.[4] She moved to the Navajo Reservation in 1966. In 1975, she began her art education at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. In 1978, Tsinhnahjinnie enrolled in the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting with a photography minor in 1981.[5] She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Studio Arts from University of California, Irvine in 2002.[6]

Artwork[]

Tsinhnahjinnie began her career as a painter, but "turned to photography as a weapon when her aesthetic/ethnic subjectivity came under fire."[7] Her body of work "plays upon her own autobiography and what it means to be a Native American."[8] Her work uses photography as a means to re-appropriate the Native American as subject. Although she is a photographer, Tsinhnahjinnie often hand-tints her photographs or uses them in collage.[5] She has also used unusual supports for her work, such as car hoods. She shoots her own original photographs, but also frequently retools historical photographs of Native Americans to comment upon the ethnographic gaze of nineteenth-century white photographers. Tsinhnahjinnie also works in film and video.[9]

Using a combination of photography and digital images with a contemporary Native American photography style, she overcomes stereotypes, challenges political ideas, and creates a space for other Natives to express their ideas as well. Her goal with her art is not aimed at the non-natives but instead it is to document her life experience and share it with the world. In a statement on “America Is a Stolen Land”, Tsinhnahjinnie says, “.. the photographs I take are not for White people to look at Native people. I take photographs so Native people can look at Native people. I make photographs for Native people”. The Damn Series which she wrote in 1977 is Tsinhnahjinnie's most widely known piece. Throughout the piece she works in Native knowledge (including humorous jokes) to repurpose images of Natives from colonialist history by shifting them back into a rightfully Indigenous context.

20 years later, in 1994, Tsinhnahjinnie created a series called “Memoirs of an Aboriginal Savant”. She uses fifteen pages of an electronic diary to reflect on life with her family, politics, and other life experiences. The diary is all written with the idea in mind that she will take the viewer on a “journey to the center of an aboriginal mind without the fear of being confronted by the aboriginal herself”. The book begins on the page “1954” (her birth year) and continues to look deeply into her personal life experiences. Through the book she writes herself from a first person point of view in order to convey herself how she sees herself instead of others views.

In many of her key works from the 1990s, Tsinhnahjinnie examined the notion of beauty. Her interest in this subject should be viewed in the context of the “return to beauty” that established itself in art historical discourse in the same period[10] At the time, critics were addressing the taboos which had developed around beauty in Western art over the 20th century and the resurfacing of beauty towards the 1990s. While debated among scholars, these taboos were often characterized as a postmodernist reaction against the past notion of beauty as represented by a passive female body. Artists at the time were navigating a "return to beauty" that took these critiques of beauty into account.

Meanwhile, Tsinhnahjinnie was working from a cultural background where beauty had never been a taboo. She defined the beauty of women in terms of their empowerment, grounded in her own perspective as an Indigenous woman. Tsinhnahjinnie's collage When Did Dreams of White Buffalo Turn to Dreams of White Women? (1990) raises questions about Native women's internalized definitions of beauty. According to Lakota lore, White Buffalo Calf Woman was an exceptionally beautiful woman who introduced the pipe ceremony to the Lakota people. The title of this work addresses the historical shift from an indigenous definition of beauty before colonization, represented by White Buffalo Calf Woman, to a neocolonial one.[10]

Career[]

When she was 23, Tsinhanahjinne moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and stayed there for 20 years. During her time there she attended the Institute of American Indian Arts and received her BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts. She also served as a board member for the Intertribal Friendship House, Oakland and the American Indian Contemporary Art Gallery while she was living there. Tsinhanahjinne chooses to display her art and passion through things like newsletters, posters, tshirts, and photos. She even teaches her skill of photography and media to younger students. Eventually after 20 years of hard work, in the year 2000 she was invited to get her MFA from the University of California Irvine. During her time at Irvine she focused her work toward digital photos and videos. In that same year, she was awarded the First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Award. Currently, Tsinhanahjinne is working as a professor of Native American Studies at the University of California Davis. While she has been working there she holds organized conferences that hold the purpose of bringing together native American photographers like herself to discuss topics such as “Visual Sovereignty”. Along with being a professor for the university, Tsinhanahjinne is the Director of C.N Gorman Museum for the school.[11]

Quote[]

"I have been photographing for thirty-five years, but the photographs I take are not for White people to look at Native people. I take photographs so that Native people can look at Native people. I make photographs for Native people."[12]

"It was a beautiful day when the scales fell from my eyes and I first encountered photographic sovereignty. A beautiful day when I decided that I would take responsibility to reinterpret images of Native peoples. My mind was ready, primed with stories of resistance and resilience, stories of survival. My views of these images are aboriginally based - an indigenous perspective - not a scientific godly order but philosophically Native."[13]

Published writings[]

  • Lidchi, Henrietta and Tsinhnahjinnie, H. J., eds. Visual Currencies: Native American Photography. Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland, 2008.
  • Tsinhnahjinnie, H. J. and Passalacqua, Veronica, eds. Our People, Our Land, Our Images: International Indigenous Photographers. Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59714-057-7.
  • Tsinhnahjinnie, H. J. "Our People, Our Land, Our Images." Native Peoples Magazine. Nov/Dec. 2006
  • Tsinhnahjinnie, H. J. "Native American Photography." The Oxford Companion to Photography Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004
  • Tsinhnahjinnie, H. J. "When is a Photograph Worth a Thousand Words?" Photography's Other Histories. C. Pinney and N. Peterson. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003: 40-52

Exhibitions[]

[14]

Seeds of Being: a Project of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Native American Art & Museum Studies Seminar. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Norman, Oklahoma. June 12, 2018 - December 30, 2018. Note: features 35 artworks from the James T. Bialac Native American Art Collection and the Rennard Strickland Collection of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art; exhibiting artists include Linda Lomahaftewa, Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie, T.C. Cannon, Fritz Scholder, Bob Haozous, Jeffrey Gibson, Tony Abeyta, Cannupa Hanska Luger, and Amanda Lucario among others. Accompanied by a catalog.

Protest & Prayer. C.N. Gorman Museum. University of California, Davis. Davis, California. January 10, 2017 - March 17, 2017. Note: group exhibition with artists Tiffany Adams, Jesus Barraza, Christi Belcourt, Melanie Cervantes, Sarah Biscarra Dilley, Glenda Drew, Jesse Drew, Andy Everson, Debora Iyall, L. Frank Manriquez, Jean Melesaine, John Miller, Isaac Murdoch, Tawera Tahuri, and Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie.

Double Vision. C.N. Gorman Museum. University of California, Davis. Davis, California. September 22, 2011 - December 2, 2011.

Unfixed. CBK Center for Contemporary Art. Dordrecht, Netherlands. October 23, 2010 - December 4, 2010. Note: accompanied by an exhibition catalog.

Holyland: Diaspora and the Desert. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. April 8, 2006 - December 31, 2006.

H. J. Tsinhnahjinnie and Friends. Memorial Union Art Gallery, University of California, Davis, CA. 2005 (03/07/2005 - 04/16/2005)

Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie: Portraits Against Amnesia. Andrew Smith Gallery. Santa Fe, NM. 2003 (08/22/2003 - 09/20/2003)

The David Ipina Memorial Exhibit. University of California at Davis, Davis, CA. 2000 (01/18/2000 - 04/07/2000)

Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie: New Works. Carl Gorman Museum. Davis, CA. 1998 (05/12/1998 - 06/26/1998)

Image and Self in Contemporary Native American Photo Art. Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College. Hanover, NH. 1996 (09/06/1996 - 11/26/1996)

Photographic Memoirs of an Indian Savant. CN Gorman Museum. UC Davis. Davis, CA. 1994 (11/13/1994 - 12/22/1994)

Watchful Eyes: Native American Women Artists. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. November 1, 1994 - October 1995. Note: Theresa Harlan, guest curator; accompanied by a catalog.

Traditions of Looking. Institute of American Indian Arts Museum. Santa Fe, NM. 1994 (09/16/1994 - 11/06/1994)

Photographic Memoirs of an Indian Savant. Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art. Seattle, WA. 1994 (09/10/1994 - 10/19/1994)

Stand: Four Artists Interpret the Native American Experience. Edinboro University. Edinboro, PA. 1993 (12/11/1993 - 01/29/1994)

Metro Bus Show. CEPA Gallery. Buffalo, New York. July 8–19, 1993 - October 1993. Note: prepared in conjunction with the International Cultural Festival, World University Games Buffalo '93, Buffalo, New York, July 8–18, 1993. Each of the artists have created ten panels which have been installed on the new green natural gas buses and travelled the "Culture Tour" specialty line during the duration of the games and continue on the "green" buses through October 1993. Participating artists include Patricia Deadman, Eric Gansworth, George Longfish, Jolene Rickard, Alan Jamieson, Jesse Cooday, Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie, and Shan Goshorn.

Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie. Campos Photography Center. Tonawanda, New York. June 1991. Note: photography in conjunction with artist's residency at the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art, Buffalo, New York.

Shared Visions: Native American Painters and Sculptors in the Twentieth Century. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. April 13, 1991 - July 28, 1991.

Composite Images. Berkeley Art Center. Berkeley, CA. 1991 (01/20/1991 - 02/24/1991)

Artifacts for the Seventh Generation: Multi-Tribal, Multi-Media Visions: New Artistic Works by Eleven Native American Artists. American Indian Contemporary Arts. San Francisco, CA. 1990 (10/06/1990 - 10/28/1990)

Talking Drum: Connected Vision. Koncepts Cultural Gallery. Oakland, CA. 1990 (10/01/1990 - 11/30/1990)

It's All Relative: First & Second Generation Artists. American Indian Contemporary Arts. San Francisco, CA. 1990 (07/12/1990 - 09/08/1990)

Language of the Lens: Contemporary Native American Photographers. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. 1990 (06/16/1990 - 03/24/1991)

Compensating Imbalances. American Indian Contemporary Arts. San Francisco, CA. 1988 (09/09/1988 - 10/15/1988)

Notes[]

  1. ^ "NAS Faculty Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie "Witnessing Resurgence: Portraits of Resilience" Exhibit at Sac State".
  2. ^ For the 9 to 5 side of things. Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie. (retrieved 16 May 2009)
  3. ^ Lester, 572-3
  4. ^ Reno, 174
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Biography: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie. Women Artist of the American West: Lesbian Photography on the U.S. West Coast, 1972-1997. (retrieved 16 May 2009)
  6. ^ "Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie". ucdavis.edu.
  7. ^ Lippard, Lucy (1999). "Independent Identities". In Rushing III, W. Jackson (ed.). Native American Art in the Twentieth Century. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 134–147. ISBN 9780415137485.
  8. ^ Paul Apodaca, et al. "Native North American art." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T061112pg1>.
  9. ^ "Videos". www.hulleah.com. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Fowler, C. (2019). Aboriginal Beauty and Self-Determination: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie’s Photographic Projects. In 1331626408 976937976 D. K. Cummings (Author), Visualities 2: More perspectives on contemporary American Indian film and art. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
  11. ^ "'Visual Sovereignty' Photography Conference". ucdavis.edu. 23 March 2009.
  12. ^ Tsinhnahjinnie and Passalacqua, ix
  13. ^ "When is a Photograph Worth a Thousand Words". www.hulleah.com. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  14. ^ "Argus: Native American Artists Resource Collection".

References[]

  • Fowler, C. (2019). Aboriginal Beauty and Self-Determination: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie's Photographic Projects. In 1331626408 976937976 D. K. Cummings (Author), Visualities 2: More perspectives on contemporary American Indian film and art. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
  • Heard Museum. Argus: Native American Artists resource collection. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://5019.sydneyplus.com/Heard_Museum_ArgusNET_Final/Portal.aspx?lang=en-US
  • Lester, Patrick D. The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters. Norman: The Oklahoma University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8061-9936-9.
  • Reno, Dawn. Contemporary Native American Artists. Brooklyn: Alliance Publishing, 1995. ISBN 0-9641509-6-4.
  • Tsinhnahjinnie, H. J. and Passalacqua, Veronica, eds. Our People, Our Land, Our Images: International Indigenous Photography. Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59714-057-7.
  • Celia Stahr. "Tsinhnahjinnie, Hulleah." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 Mar. 2016. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T2022070>.
  • Rushing III, W. Jackson. Native American Art in the Twentieth Century: Makers, Meanings, Histories. London; New York: Routledge, 1999. ISBN 978-0415137485
  • Paul Apodaca, et al. "Native North American Art." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T061112pg1>.

External links[]

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