New Exhibition Featuring Marlena Myles (Spirit Lake Dakota)

Vector Drawings by Marlena Myles 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

February 1, 2016 - RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA: The Sioux Indian Museum, administered by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, U.S. Department of the Interior, will feature an exhibit of artwork by Marlena Myles.  The exhibition will run from February 5 to April 22, 2016.  On February 5, an opening reception will be held for the exhibit from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  The artist will be available to discuss her work during the reception.  The reception and exhibition are both free and open to the public. 

Marlena Myles, an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Dakota Tribe, is a multifaceted artist who works in both traditional and digital formats.  She is a graduate of Central High School in Rapid City, South Dakota, and currently resides in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she works as a graphic artist and website designer. 

Early in her career, Marlena worked primarily in traditional charcoal drawings and portraits.  Over time, she evolved as an artist and her work now focuses primarily of digital vector drawings.  These drawings are built on a geometric pattern of vibrant but distinctive colors resulting in jewel-like scenes.  Her artistic process is organic and fluid.  Images seen in both dreams and the world around her often provide the initial inspiration for her virtual artworks. 

From these visions she then creates unique patterns and designs that form the basis of the vectored illustration.  These patterns are digitally manipulated into shapes that represent animals or people.  The unique layering of shapes and forms is a proprietary technique that Marlena developed herself through trial and error.  Although Marlena is primarily a self-taught artist, she is part of an international art collective in which artists share new techniques and ideas with each other. 

Inspiration for Marlena’s work comes from her Dakota ancestors and language.  She believes that art is a means of sharing cultural awareness through a medium more powerful than the written word.  Marlena hopes that her art will bring joy to the viewer and inspire Native youth to connect with their past to create a future that is alive and embodied with traditional cultural values. 

Marlena’s work has exhibited at several venues including:  All My Relations Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota; the 2015 Gathering of People, Wind and Water, Rapid City, South Dakota; and the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, Warner, New Hampshire.

Prices for the artwork in the exhibition can be obtained by contacting The Journey Museum Store at (605) 394-2201.  To purchase artwork after the exhibit closes, please contact Marlena Myles through her website www.marlenamyl.es.

* Exhibition brochure

The Sioux Indian Museum, managed by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, U.S. Department of the Interior, is located in The Journey Museum, 222 New York Street, Rapid City, SD 57701.  For admission fees and hours of operation please call (605) 394-6923.