This article is part of Hyperallergic‘s Pride Month Seriesfeaturing an interview with a different emerging or mid-career transgender or non-binary artist each weekday throughout June.
Demian DinéYazhi’, a non-binary trans artist from the Naasht’ézhí Tábąąhá (Zuni Clan Water’s Edge) and Tódích’íí’nii (Bitter Water) clans within the Diné tribe, felt their artistic career was on the rise before the pandemic . They actively participated in panels and public programs for various arts institutions, using the opportunities as a springboard to share their own institutional critiques. But as the quarantine took hold and revealed the most damning disparities between the marginalized and the privileged, DinéYazhi’, now based in Portland, Oregon, focused on social justice and self-help efforts. As racial tensions boiled over in the summer of 2020, the artist observed the same organizations that once offered them opportunities exploiting the concepts brought to the fore during the pandemic in their statements of solidarity, often without any real follow-up or consideration. for the needs of vulnerable artists.
DinéYazhi’, whose practice includes text-based printmaking, focuses on the question of what it means to be a participant in these spaces. “Even speaking in the language of your oppressor, there is still a subversive strategy that is implemented on a daily basis,” they said. “My use of text is a strategic form of telling the truth.” In the interview below, DinéYazhi’ draws connections between the immediacy of social media and the DIY-aligned reproducibility of printmaking to question how museums and art institutions extract marginalized artists and their work.
Hyperallergic: What is the current orientation of your artistic practice?
Demian Dine Yazhi´: My artistic practice is currently in a phase of transition due to personal and socio-political factors. It is impossible to be a living and prosperous Aboriginal person without being affected by forced assimilation into colonial society. Just as it is impossible to be an autonomous trans, 2Spirit, non-binary, or queer artist without being impacted by forced assimilation into cis-heterosexual colonial systems. My works are impacted by these disharmonious societal systems working against and distracting us on endless fronts to keep us busy and struggling to survive.
As I navigated the post-2020 society, I wondered what my role was as an artist and this led me to create work that critiques art institutions, galleries, organizations and non-profits. . My current body of work, extractive industries (2022-present), explores institutional critique through a transdisciplinary strategy from textual typographic prints, digital social media graphics, vinyl lettering, photography, and neon sculpture.
H: In what ways, if any, does your gender identity play a role in your experience as an artist?
NOT A WORD : Part of why my work is in a transitional phase is directly related to my gender identity. Most of my work has examined my own awareness of how for most of my life I have embraced masculinity as a sort of shield and protection in order to survive in western society. My previous work, “Man-Size (Revisited)” (2011), is a revamp of PJ Harvey’s 1993 song “Man-Size”. The piece is a mirrored and near-synchronized performance of the original music video. As I was creating this piece, I began to realize how much my portrayal of gender was influenced by female figures from alternative rock and ’90s punk rock who disrupted and explored gender roles through performance, music and art.
While doing this work, I began to question my own gender identity in relation to indigenous Diné cultural traditions but also in relation to non-binary and transgender identity. At this point in my practice, I begin to create works that explore my journey over the past few years as I have come to embrace and revel in my evolving gender identity.
H: Which artists inspire your work today? What are your other sources of inspiration?
NOT A WORD : My community of Indigenous, Black, Brown, Pacific Islander, and Asian girls, and trans, two-spirit, non-binary, and queer creations keep me inspired and nurtured. Joss Barton is a trans poet living in Chicago who I truly believe is one of the finest poets and performers of our time. the free pop-up art school of manuel arturo abreu and Victoria Anne Reis, home school, is a radical model that supports so many artists and creators and gives me hope that we can build and nurture networks of support that uplift entire communities. The Indigenous Action team in occupied Flagstaff, Arizona is also a major source of endless validation and inspiration while pushing anarchist and self-help efforts with love, care and respect for all our loved ones.
H: What are your hopes for the LGBTQIA+ community right now?
NOT A WORD : I hope we will have the rest we need and the care we are entitled to. I hope we will continue to support each other and focus our efforts on strengthening ties in our communities. I hope we will start strategizing and dreaming of utopian futures where we will succeed. I hope we start imagining and writing stories about how we fought back and found solutions that created the future we need right now. I hope we never forget our power and remember that our fight is also aligned with various oppressed, disabled and colonized peoples. Finally, after saving the world, I hope we don’t have to deal with all that bullshit on this damn beautiful planet!
