���۴�ý

Finding His Song

Kathryn Reichert, CLA Public Information Office
July 17, 2025

This May, artist and ���۴�ý Professor of Native Art Da-ka-xeen Mehner was invited to present at the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s (SHI) Spring Lecture Series in Juneau. His talk, A Life of Creative Adventure, offered an intimate window into the personal and artistic journey that has shaped his acclaimed body of work in contemporary Native art. Centering on themes of creative expression and representation, Mehner spoke with honesty and insight about the evolution of his relationship to his culture and identity.

Mehner grew up between Anchorage and Fairbanks, raised by a Tlingit/Nisga’a mother and an American father. That blending of backgrounds has long been a wellspring for his work, which spans sculpture, photography, video, and installation. 

The talk moved fluidly between memory and material, as Mehner spoke openly about the complexities of Indigenous identity, particularly within institutional contexts that ask for “proof” of heritage in the form of documentation. “Why can't I be a full person?” he asked. “Why do I have to be a split person? Is there a way to come together?”

That question of how to be whole, or who or what determines your wholeness, in a world shaped by imposed categories echoes throughout his installation Finding My Song, just one of the exhibitions he discusses in depth in this lecture. Presented at the Anchorage Museum, the piece unfolds in three phases: from a series of “language daggers” inscribed with Tlingit and English phrases, to a house-front photograph referencing a time in his grandmother’s life when she was punished for speaking Tlingit, to a final crescendo of sound and movement, a video projection of Mehner singing a clan song, learning and reclaiming the language he was not raised with. “It starts off with one instance, a very quiet sound, and then grows and grows into this very loud chorus. It was a way for me to incorporate learning our songs into my artistic practice. It was just one way of thinking about how to do that,” he reflects. 

A Life of Creative Adventure offers a rare opportunity to trace �ѱ��Ա��’s creative evolution, from early seldom-seen works to widely recognized contemporary pieces. It invites viewers to reflect on what it means to see, remember, and represent.

Mehner's creative path is also marked by his role as a mentor and educator at UAF. As the director of the Native Art Center, he helps shape a space where students can explore their connections to place and culture through hands-on making and dialogue.

Sealaska Heritage Institute, a nonprofit based in Southeast Alaska, promotes the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures through education, arts, and research. Their lecture series showcases voices that reflect the richness of lived knowledge across generations and mediums.

�ѱ��Ա��’s —a thought-provoking hour that honors both the vulnerability and power of creative exploration.