STEVEN J.
YAZZIE
IT’S ALRIGHT IF
IT MAKES YOU
FEEL BETTER
In this early work by Steven Yazzie, the artist has depicted a quasi-erotic tableau. The two central figures, a woman and a man with a bird’s head, appear partially nude, the man embracing the woman from behind. The woman’s eyes remain closed in the painting, suggesting that she is imagining or dreaming the scene we see before us. There is a party-like atmosphere to the work, with various birds surrounding the couple, many wearing party hats. The beak of the man’s face is tied shut with a pink ribbon, suggesting his inability to speak and a certain level of silence. As Yazzie has stated for other works, “I’m not going to explain or give everything away …. Even if I wanted to, a painting contains its own life; it reveals itself in unanticipated ways.” That can very much be said for this canvas as the artist invites the viewer into a playful world of ambiguity.
40 x 48 x 1 1/2 in
1998
Gift of Leigh and Beryl Sherman
Image by Craig Smith for Heard Museum
ABOUT THE ARTIST
STEVEN J. YAZZIE
Diné, b. 1970
Steven J. Yazzie is a multidisciplinary artist working in video, painting and installation. He is a member of the Navajo Nation and a veteran of the Gulf War, serving honorably with the U.S. Marine Corps. He received a BFA in intermedia at Arizona State University and was named the 2014 Outstanding Graduate of ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. He also studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Yazzie is the co-founder of Digital Preserve LLC, a video production company collaborating with artists, filmmakers and interdisciplinary creatives to produce meaningful content and stories that highlight Indigenous issues. Yazzie’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at such venues as the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, the Heard Museum, the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Art and the Wheelwright Museum.