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Five Questions with Artist Marlena Myles

1. How would you describe your artistic practice?

My art practice uses digital applications to create art that educates people on Dakota history, culture, language and philosophies. I use various programs like Adobe Illustrator, Character Animate, Aero, Premiere Pro, After Effects and Cinema 4D to create animations, illustrations, augmented reality – all kinds of content that can tell a story. I own a Dakota publishing company called Wíyouŋkihipi Productions where I am publishing the work of other Dakota/Lakota artists and writers as well as releasing free learning resources in the form of coloring books/pages.

I do a lot of research before starting an artwork, looking at the ways the history connects with the present to create a fresh perspective on Dakota thought ways/lifeways that helps engage people with material they might be learning about for the first time in their lives.

2. Your Native American heritage is forefront in your work and you aim to "bring modernity to indigenous history, languages and oral traditions." Why do you feel it is important to share indigenous heritage through a contemporary lens?

Many people have a perception that Native art is made from materials like leather, feather and beads. However, we have always been innovative people so when we have access to new mediums, we incorporate them into our culture. I’m carrying on those traditions and hope to inspire Native people to try new artforms as well as showing Native people in a contemporary light to non-Native people.

3. While you work in a variety of media, you have incorporated augmented reality into your practice. How do you see augmented reality being used as a visual art medium and a tool for storytelling?

Dakota Spirit Walk - Augmented reality public art, Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, St. Paul, MN.

For my work, it allows me to incorporate animation, audio, 3D design and illustrations and bring them to places outside of traditional settings. I can create storytelling on site without needing permission to do so – as a Dakota person, many of our sacred places are not under our ownership and there’s been a disconnect between being able to hold space at those sites. Also, a lot of the time, an outside organization like the Minnesota Historical Society is the one controlling the narrative at these sites and we have to seek their permission or cooperation to tell our own stories that have been here for thousands of years. Augmented reality lets me speak from a Dakota perspective without being filtered to fit what non-Dakota organizations such as the MHS would tell to the public. In summary, augmented reality can be a powerful tool to create public art and art activism that reveals unseen or unheard stories.

4. You recently opened your own publishing company called Wíyouŋkihipi (We Are Capable) Productions. What is the mission of Wíyouŋkihipi Productions and what projects are you currently working on?

Just like augmented reality can be a tool to be able to control our narratives, Wíyouŋkihipi is a place to teach and share from a Dakota/Lakota perspective without having to please a non-Native editor who may not understand what’s authentic to our culture. Working in the children’s book industry as an illustrator prior to starting my own company, I often had to tell the editors about errors in their stories about Native Americans. I am tired of doing that labor for them and rather work for my people and use my abilities/experience in the industry to create opportunities for first time Dakota/Lakota writers/artists.

Our upcoming releases feature 3 children books, one poetry book and one photography book. You can follow along by signing up via the newsletter at wiyounkihipi.com

*The Kaposia Times,* mural by Marlena Myles. Commissioned by the City of Bloomington.

5. What can we look for next after your residency at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum? What other projects are you currently working on?

I am creating murals and an augmented reality installation for the City of St Paul at the new Unci Makha (Dakota for Grandmother Earth) park in the Highland Bridge project site (formerly the site of the Ford Plant). The murals will interact with the Dakota creation story and nature spirits to create a sort of theater for visitors to connect with the relatives around them. My friend Rory Wakemup is creating sculptures on site that will be an additional element to those works by me.

And finally, I’m working on an augmented reality project with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to create a Sacred Hoop walk to teach visitors about being good relatives to the world around us. It’s a similar project to the Dakota Spirit Walk I released last year with Pixel farm that is a permanent augmented reality public art installation that honors, educates and connects visitors to Dakota history, culture and significance of land through the art and storytelling at the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in St Paul. Just download the Revelo AR app from the app store and head there to view it.

About the Artist

Marlena Myles is a self-taught Native American (Spirit Lake Dakota) artist located in St Paul, Minnesota. She has gained recognition as being one of the few Dakota women creating digital art including fabric patterns, animations and illustrations to bring modernity to indigenous history, languages and oral traditions. Growing up on her traditional Dakota homelands here in the Twin Cities, she enjoys using her artwork to teach Minnesotans of all backgrounds the indigenous history of this place we call home.

Her professional work includes children’s books, fabrics, animations and fine art in galleries such as the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Museum of Russian Art, Red Cloud Heritage Center and the Minnesota Museum of American Art, to name a few.

7th Gallery: Artist Engagement Residency

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is working with two social practice visual artists in residence, Ian Hanesworth and Marlena Myles, to engage with the museum, the museum’s garden, the Mississippi River, and the Winona community as they reimagine and sketch their visions of what this garden can represent going forward.

MMAM’s engagement of these two artists in this Arts Midwest GIG funded project means to open the gardens to the artists’ creative process with community design over five days, August 10-14, 2022. The artists will have time to explore the museum, talk with museum stakeholders and community members, and sketch their ideas for community engaged artwork for MMAM’s gardens. Stakeholder’s conversations will be facilitated by community based artist and mental health professional Sarah Johnson of the Joy Labs.

Learn more

Art Stream: Marlena Myles