“Transformer: Native Art in Light and Sound” Artist Bios

Jordan Bennett       

Bennett (b. 1986) is a Mi’kmaq multidisciplinary visual artist from Stephenville Crossing, Ktaqmkuk (the Mi’kmaq name for the island of Newfoundland, Canada). Bennett earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus. He has participated in more than 50 group and solo exhibitions nationally and internationally, including representing Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2015 Venice Biennial at Galleria Ca’ Rezzonico in Venice, Italy. Bennett’s ongoing body of work uses painting, sculpture, video, installation and sound with a particular focus on exploring the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk visual culture of Ktaqamkuk.

Raven Chacon

Chacon (b. 1977) is a Diné composer, performer and artist born in the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Chacon performs as a solo artist and with numerous ensembles and is a member of the American Indian arts collective Postcommodity. He earned a Master of Fine Arts in music from the California Institute of the Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in music from the University of New Mexico. Chacon has received awards and support from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, National Arts and Humanities Youth Program, United States Artists and Creative Capital. He is an annual composer-in-residence at the Native American Composers Apprentice Project.

Jon Corbett 

Corbett (b. 1971) is a professional computer programmer and a Canadian Métis media artist. Corbett first studied fine art in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at MacEwan University before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing from the University of Alberta and a Master of Fine Arts in interdisciplinary media from the University of British Columbia. He is a sessional faculty member specializing in new media art at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus. Corbett’s previous work has been exhibited in Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia and Japan, as well as numerous exhibitions in Canada.

Marcella Ernest

Ernest (b. 1979) is an Ojibwe interdisciplinary video artist and documentary filmmaker. Ernest’s work combines electronic media with sound design, film and photography. Her work has been exhibited and screened at galleries and film festivals internationally, including, most recently, Venice, Italy. Ernest attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., and Mills College in Oakland, Calif. She earned a Master of Arts from the University of Washington’s Native Voices Program. Ernest is completing an interdisciplinary doctorate in American studies at the University of New Mexico.     

Stephen Foster

Foster (b. 1966) is a video and electronic media artist of Haida and European heritage. Foster has exhibited nationally and internationally and has lectured and published on interactive documentary, community-based research and Canadian contemporary indigenous art. He is the department head and a professor in the Department of Creative Studies, as well as the director for the Centre for Indigenous Media Arts at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus.

Nicholas Galanin

Galanin (b. 1979) is a Tlingit/Unangax̂ (Aleut) multidisciplinary artist from Sitka, Alaska, who works in mixed-media, sculpture, digital media, video and metalsmithing. Galanin earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in jewelry design from London Guildhall University and a Master of Fine Arts in Indigenous visual arts from Massey University in New Zealand. His work is represented in the collections of numerous international museums, including the Anchorage Museum, National Gallery of Canada, Portland Art Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, Musée d'art contemporain de Baie Saint-Paul, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.

Keli Mashburn

Mashburn (b. 1977) is an Osage photographer who was raised on the Osage Indian Reservation of northeastern Oklahoma. Mashburn employs various traditional and experimental techniques to produce black-and-white photographic prints from 35 mm film. She studied philosophy at the University of Tulsa and University of Oklahoma and photography at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. Mashburn has received support from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Osage Nation Foundation, and the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. She lives in Fairfax, Okla.   

Kevin McKenzie

McKenzie (b. 1961) is a Cree Métis artist born and raised in Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan, Canada. McKenzie is a descendent of the O’Soup family from the Cowessess First Nation of Saskatchewan. He has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Saskatchewan Arts Boards and First People’s Cultural Foundation. McKenzie’s work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Manitoba Hydro Corporation, First Nations University of Canada, Comox Valley Art Gallery and the Saskatchewan Arts Board.

Julie Nagam

Nagam (b. 1977) is an Anishnawbe/Métis/German/Syrian media and installation artist living in Manitoba, Canada. Nagam is an associate professor of art history at the University of Winnipeg and the chair in the history of indigenous art in North America jointly appointed by the University of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. She has received support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Government of Canada, including for her project “The Transactive Memory Keepers: Indigenous Public Engagement in Digital and New Media Labs and Exhibitions.” Her most recent publications include Traveling Soles: Tracing the Footprints of Our Stolen Sisters (2017).

Marianne Nicolson

Nicolson (b. 1969) is an artist of Musgamakw Dzawada̱’enux̱w Nation (Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw) and Scottish descent. She is a published author and a painter, photographer and installation artist who has exhibited her artwork locally, nationally and internationally. Nicolson’s training encompasses both traditional Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw forms and culture and Western European-based art practice. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, as well as a Master of Fine Arts, a Master of Arts in linguistics and anthropology, and a doctorate in linguistics, anthropology and art history from the University of Victoria.

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SI-433-2017