As part of a series co-presented by Forge Project and CCS Bard, artist Sonya Kelliher-Combs will speak about her multidisciplinary work on December 3 at 5 PM.

Artist biography:

Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Iñupiaq/Koyukon) is a mixed-media visual artist whose family hails from the North Slope and Interior of Alaska. Her work focuses on the changing North and our relationship to nature and each other. Through visual art, community engagement, curation and advocacy, Kelliher-Combs works to create opportunities to feature Indigenous voices and contemporary artwork that inform and encourage social action. Traditional women's work taught her to appreciate the intimacy of intergenerational knowledge and material histories. These experiences and skills allow Kelliher-Combs to examine connections between Western and Indigenous cultures. She lives and works in Anchorage, Alaska.

Kelliher-Combs received a BFA from University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and an MFA from Arizona State University. She is a recipient of the Anchorage Cultural Council’s Mayor's Awards for the Arts, the State of Alaska Governor’s Award for the Arts, Rasmuson Foundation Fellowship, Eiteljorg Fellowship, Native Arts and Cultures Artist Fellowship, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s Painters and Sculptors Grant. Her work can be found in numerous private and public collections including the Alaska State Museum, National Museum of the American Indian, Anchorage Museum, Eiteljorg Museum, British Royal Museum, Institute of American Indian Art Museum of Contemporary Native Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

This event is part of ongoing programming organized by Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation), Executive Director & Chief Curator, Forge Project, and Fellow in Indigenous Art History and Curatorial Studies, CCS Bard. It will be live-streamed via the Forge Project Instagram feed.

Forge Project Talks

Forge Project Talks are part of a set of broader initiatives at Bard College that seek to place Native American and Indigenous Studies at the heart of curricular innovation, which includes programming organized by the Center for Indigenous Studies and the Rethinking Place initiative.

These programs are made possible by the Forge Endowed Fund for Indigenous Studies at Bard College, generously supported by the Gochman Family Foundation along with George Soros and the Open Society Foundations.

Accessibility for Public Programs

This program will be live-streamed on @Forgeprojectny and video-recorded with closed captioning and available on Forge Project’s Vimeo page. All CCS Bard programs are recorded through audio recordings that reside in the CCS Bard Library & Archives and online here. To inquire about an audio recording, please contact CCSVisits@bard.edu.

American Sign Language Interpretation
ASL-English interpretation is available for public programs upon request with two weeks advance notice. To place a request, please contact CCSVisits@bard.edu. Relay and voice calls welcome.

Verbal Description
Verbal description is available for public programs upon request with two weeks advance notice. To place a request, please contact CCSVisits@bard.edu. Relay and voice calls welcome.

Captioning
When public programs are held over Zoom, live transcription is available.

Artworks

Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Iñupiaq and Athabascan)Salmon Curls, 2023

Videos

See Also

Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Iñupiaq and Athabascan)
Salmon Curls, 2023