Sonya Kelliher-Combs

Born 1969 Bethel, AK / Lives in Anchorage, AK

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Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Credible, 2019, Acrylic polymer, paper, human hair, nylon thread on panel, 35 parts, Installation dimensions variable, #SKC01 - Collection Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Credible, 2019, Acrylic polymer, paper, human hair, nylon thread on panel, 35 parts, Installation dimensions variable, #SKC01 - Collection Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Polar Bear Curl, 2017, Acrylic polymer, polar bear fur, nylon thread, steel pins, 34 parts, 16 x 122 x 4 inches, #SKC02 - Collection Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Polar Bear Curl, 2017, Acrylic polymer, polar bear fur, nylon thread, steel pins, 34 parts, 16 x 122 x 4 inches, #SKC02 - Collection Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Moose Jaw), 2016, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 18 x 14 x 1.75 inches, #SKC03 - Collection Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Moose Jaw), 2016, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 18 x 14 x 1.75 inches, #SKC03 - Collection Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Polar Bear Fur), 2016, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 14 x 11 x 1.75 inches, #SKC04 - Collection Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Polar Bear Fur), 2016, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 14 x 11 x 1.75 inches, #SKC04 - Collection Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Caribou Antler), 2016, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 24 x 24 x 5 inches, #SKC05 - Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Caribou Antler), 2016, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 24 x 24 x 5 inches, #SKC05 - Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Seal Intestine), 2016, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 16 x 16 x 1.75 inches, #SKC06 - Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Seal Intestine), 2016, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 16 x 16 x 1.75 inches, #SKC06 - Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Walrus Bone III), 2019, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 36 x 12 x 2.5 inches, #SKC07 - Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Walrus Bone III), 2019, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 36 x 12 x 2.5 inches, #SKC07 - Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Walrus Bone IV), 2019, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 18 x 12 x 1.75 inches, #SKC08 - Collection Forge Project, Taghkanic, NY

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Walrus Bone IV), 2019, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 18 x 12 x 1.75 inches, #SKC08 - Collection Forge Project, Taghkanic, NY

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Moose Antler III), 2019, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 24 x 24 x 4 inches, #SKC09 - Collection Forge Project, Taghkanic, NY

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Remnant (Moose Antler III), 2019, Mixed media, organic and synthetic materials, 24 x 24 x 4 inches, #SKC09 - Collection Forge Project, Taghkanic, NY

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Mark, Polar Bear, 2019, Acrylic polymer, polar bear fur, fabric flag, metal brackets, 40 x 65 inches, #SKC10 -- Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Mark, Polar Bear, 2019, Acrylic polymer, polar bear fur, fabric flag, metal brackets, 40 x 65 inches, #SKC10 -- Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Red, White, and Blue, Small Secrets, 2019, Cotton fabric, human hair, glass beads, nylon thread, steel pins, 50 parts, Dimension variable, #SKC11 -- Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Red, White, and Blue, Small Secrets, 2019, Cotton fabric, human hair, glass beads, nylon thread, steel pins, 50 parts, Dimension variable, #SKC11 -- Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Red, White, and Blue, Small Secrets (detail), 2019, Cotton fabric, human hair, glass beads, nylon thread, steel pins, 50 parts, Dimension variable, #SKC11 -- Private collection

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Red, White, and Blue, Small Secrets (detail), 2019, Cotton fabric, human hair, glass beads, nylon thread, steel pins, 50 parts, Dimension variable, #SKC11 -- Private collection

Biography

Sonya Kelliher-Combs (b. 1969 Bethel, Alaska; lives Anchorage, Alaska) is an artist of mixed descent: Iñupiaq from the Alaska North Slope community of Utqiagvik, and Athabascan from the interior village of Nulato. Her work has been shown in numerous individual and group exhibitions at museums and galleries across the country, including Sakahan (National Gallery of Canada), HIDE: Skin as Material Metaphor (National Museum of American Indian), and SITELINES: Much Wider Than a Line (SITE Santa Fe).

She is a recipient of the prestigious United States Arts Fellowship, Joan Mitchell Fellowship, Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art, and Rasmuson Fellowship, as well as the 2005 Anchorage Mayors Arts Award and 2010 Alaska Governor’s Individual Artist Award. Her work is included in the collections of the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Anchorage Museum, Alaska State Museum, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Eiteljorg Museum, National Museum of the American Indian, Denver Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Montclair Art Museum. She received her BFA from University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and MFA from Arizona State University, Tempe.

Statement

I am an artist of mixed decent: Iñupiaq from the Alaska North Slope community of Utqiagvik, and Athabascan from the interior village of Nulato. My family, cultures, and relationship to the land influence all that I do. Because of this, I choose to live and work in Alaska. Growing up in a rural community, I was taught that the land and sea would provide resources, spiritual and physical, necessary to sustain a healthy life. We have unspoken truths: honor all that you harvest; respect the natural world that provides for you, your family and community; take care of one another; and do not take more than you need. Nothing is more beautiful than growing up on the land, harvesting with your family and understanding that you are a part of this place. 

As a child I spent summers at our camp where we worked, hunted and gathered food and supplies for the winter. It was there I learned to listen, learning from family, community and nature. Through the observation and practice of time-honored traditions – skin sewing, beading, and food preparation – I realized my role as Woman, Daughter, Sister, Wife, and Artist. Traditional women’s work taught me to appreciate the intimacy of intergenerational knowledge and material histories. These experiences and skills have allowed me to examine the connections between Western and Indigenous cultures, and to investigate notions of interwoven identity through my work. 

Through the use of synthetic, organic, traditional, and modern materials and techniques, I build upon the traditions of my people. I am inspired by our ancestors and their relationship to their environment embodied in their use of skin, fur, and membrane in material culture. The subjects of my work are patterns of history, family and culture. Personal and cultural symbolism forms the imagery. These symbols speak to history, culture, family, and the life of our people. They also speak about abuse, marginalization, and the historical and contemporary struggles of Indigenous peoples. 

I live in a modern world, but I still depend on the cultural traditions and values of our people, including respect for land, animals, the sea, and fellow humans. I strive to create works that carry on these values and address the persistent importance of traditional knowledge.