Sonya Kelliher-Combs facts for kids

Sonya Kelliher-Combs is a Native American artist. She often uses natural materials like walrus gut in her art. People in the past used walrus gut to make warm coats. Her art explores how different cultures and nature are connected. It also makes people think about what beauty means.

Sonya Kelliher-Combs: Early Life and Family

Sonya Kelliher-Combs was born in 1969 in Bethel, Alaska. She grew up in Nome, Alaska. As a child, she learned traditional skills from her mother. These included beadwork and sewing with animal skins. Sewing skins helped Native Americans stay warm in very cold weather. Beading added beauty to their clothing and items.

Sonya also spent time with other artists in her area. She studied their artwork. This helped her see new art forms, especially sculptures made from many materials. Sonya always loved to draw. People often told her how good her drawings were. But she did not think she would become an artist at first. She thought she would be a lawyer or an engineer. This was because her grandfather was a federal marshal and a judge.

After college, she married her high school sweetheart, Shaun Combs. Today, Sonya Kelliher-Combs lives and works in Anchorage, Alaska. She is part of several art groups there.

Sonya Kelliher-Combs: Education and Artistic Journey

Sonya Kelliher-Combs took art classes when she was young. Later, she went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. There, she realized that art was her true passion. She studied with an art teacher named David Mollett. He helped her understand how much effort it takes to be an artist. This made her decide to work very hard to become one.

She earned her first art degree in 1992. After that, she traveled to Europe. She wanted to see new things and learn about different cultures. This helped her improve her art. Some artists who inspired her include Maya Lin, Ellen Gallagher, Jane Hammond, Anne Wilson, and Eva Hesse.

Sonya then earned a higher art degree from Arizona State University. This was a difficult time because she was far from her husband and family. She missed her culture and Alaska very much. She realized that her family, culture, and Alaska were the main sources of her creativity. This experience helped her art become more focused and simple.

Sonya Kelliher-Combs: Art Career and Style

Sonya Kelliher-Combs started showing her art while she was still in college. She was inspired by artists like de Kooning and Picasso. This led her to add abstract ideas to her work. She also became interested in the formline style. This is a traditional art style from the Northwest Coast of Alaska. She liked how formline art used abstract animal shapes. She felt it made her art unique and connected to Native American culture.

Over time, Sonya's art began to mix old traditions with new ideas. She often uses simple designs and colors found in nature. Her work often explores the human body and its connection to the world.

Sonya Kelliher-Combs: Notable Artworks

Common Thread

Common Thread was made in 2010. It uses reindeer rawhide, sheep rawhide, and nylon thread. Sonya says that animal skin has always been important in her life. This artwork shows how important it is. It features pieces of dry reindeer and sheep rawhide mounted on a wall.

Red Curls

Red Curls was created in 2016. It uses acrylic polymer, reindeer fur, nylon thread, nylon fabric, and steel pins. This artwork has 140 large red curled strips. They look like dried fish. Sonya dipped the strips in polymers. This shows how plastic was used in the past to keep fish fresh. It also connects to how plastic is used today.

Remnant Series

Sonya Kelliher-Combs's "Remnant" Series (2016) is a group of artworks. They are made to make people feel and think deeply. This series was first shown at SITE Santa Fe. It included a small room with 29 rectangular pieces. Each piece had an old glass window. Inside, there was a polymer-coated human hair or animal part. Sonya uses her hands and tools to create interesting textures. Some of the items inside these pieces are feathers, walrus stomach, and animal bones.

Unraveled Secrets

Unraveled Secrets was made in 2006. It was shown in New York. This artwork shows how many layers make up who we are. Sonya was inspired by her own mixed background. Unraveled Secrets shows identity as layers of honesty, tradition, and change. It is a mixed-media artwork. It uses a single thread woven through thousands of steel quilting needles on a wall.

See also

• Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas