The New York–based Foundation for Contemporary Arts has named Dakota Mace as the 2023 recipient of the Ellsworth Kelly Award. Mace will receive USD$45,000 in support of a solo exhibition.
Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Mace uses her interdisciplinary practice to explore family lineage, community and identity – particularly in the context of Diné (Navajo) history, culture and beliefs – through beadwork, papermaking photographic works and weaving. She is currently an MFA in Studio Arts Faculty at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, and an advisor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Mace’s show, Dahodiyinii – Sacred Places, will open at SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico in March 2025, featuring ‘over 2,000 newly-commissioned chemigrams and photographic prints made using crimson cochineal dye – a naturally-occurring dye made of insects native to Diné land and the Southwest United States’, accompanied by ‘site-specific installations of video, audio, and performance that document Mace’s creative process’, the Foundation outlines.
Previous winners of the prize include Shahpour Pouyan (2022), Barbara T. Smith (2021) and dana washington-queen (2020).
