Shawna Shandíín Sunrise

When I was growing up I would watch both my parents helping other in our community. They would give time listening and participating in creating an art world that would make bonds so we could all move forward together. This is how I see the future and the future of native art in my community. To support one another as artists is very vital for all of us to progress in a positive light. Everyday is another expression in the right direction of art when you work within a community for the community. Through visual arts I have and am achieving the success that is in movement to the future for my people. It is the strength that is being restored through pure creating and expression.

“Shawna lives her creativity on a daily basis and is a leader in contextualizing media arts through the lenses of her Diné perspectives. She applies the process of weaving to that of her filmmaking, one of ritual and ceremony, where preparation and gathering are done as a ritualistic process working towards a manifestation of creative power. The end product is not the only sacred element of her art; the process is sacred as well and is valuable as the tangible element created. As a fifth generation weaver through her Navajo lineage, Shawna acknowledge the importance of maintaining traditions and lifeways, but also reinterprets them to apply to modern elements such as filmmaking and media production.” –N. Bird Runningwater, Nominator