In this episode, interns Meranden Numkena and Lakin Epaloose speak virtually with Diné artist Skylar Blackbull for the Veteran’s Day Special as she explains her artwork on the Navajo Code Talkers, collaborating with one of her role models, and the importance of the Grand Canyon to her tribe.

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TRANSCRIPT:

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Skylar Blackbull: So it's really neat to see kind of the breakdown of this code because I think when a lot of times we hear about this history you don't actually get to see what the code looked like and I wanted to use this project to kind of give a chance for people to not only know more about the history but also see the code and see what how it worked and how it operated.

Meranden: Welcome or welcome back to Grand Canyon Speaks. This is Meranden

Lakin: And this is Lakin and we're both interns at Desert View.

Meranden: In this episode we talked with Skylar Blackbull who is a Diné artist. We invited her out for an in-person conversation but as we head into winter here the snow decided to come and she wasn't able to make it.

Lakin: But we didn't let that stop us though, so thankfully we were able to meet with her virtually.

Meranden: And as this is our Veterans Day special episode she was able to talk with us about her amazing piece called Unbreakable Code that highlights the Navajo Code Talkers.

Lakin: Yeah it was really interesting to learn more about the different components of this artwork along with getting to know more about her creative journey.

Meranden: Also it was really cool hearing about an opportunity she had to collaborate with someone she looks up to.

Lakin: So we hope you enjoy this episode and here is Skylar Blackbull.

Skylar: My name is Skylar Blackbull. I am from the Hosta Butte area in New Mexico currently in Colorado but no I've been you know doing art outside of college for about about two a year and a half almost two years and I've been on my artist journey since goodness since I can remember and I'm just thrilled to be able to be part of this podcast be able to share you know my journey as an artist and the way that I use the way my experiences growing up to influence my work.

Lakin: Have you been to the Grand Canyon?

Skylar: I have a very long time ago. I was just a young girl. My parents had taken my sister and I twice and we both did not actually walk down the canyon. We were strapped onto a backpack and our dad walked us down the canyon. But the two times that I have gone it I have very fond memories of being out there and just how beautiful the scenery is.

Meranden: Nice yeah I think that's something I noticed with these speaks is that usually when we bring them out or it's a cultural demonstration it's usually their first time coming or it's something they haven't been here in a long time. We can go ahead and go to the second question. When did you first start your artistic journey?

Skylar: Sure to be honest I always had a love for art and creativity growing up. My dad being a very gifted illustrator himself and just being around that and him you know doodling for my sister and I on napkins and things of that sort.

I've always had such a connection with creativity including drawing on our walls at home which was probably not the best thing ever. But no like art was such a big stress reliever for me growing up. I loved being part of art classes all through elementary school, middle school, you know high school.

I really didn't you know find my passion or my niche until about when I went to college in my undergrad. I initially started off with a degree in science. I was planning on going in biology and then eventually I switched to kinesiology and then I was like ooh nutrition sounds great.

And then I throughout those first two years of college I had been taking a lot of art classes as a way to just kind of have a breather from all of the other college classes and ended up having so much fun with these classes and enjoying them so much that my professors even convinced me to you know switch my major over to the art department. And the end of my sophomore year beginning of junior year I completely switched gears and went full towards a degree in graphic design and studio art and never looked back.

Meranden: It's really interesting seeing how much the classes and like those experiences and like professors play a big role in what we want to do. So yeah that's really cool.

Lakin: Yeah it's also good to hear that you follow your intuition and that you weren't afraid in that action. So it's always good to hear when people do that whether it's creatively or just when it comes to following a path that's oriented towards a set of value goals.

Skylar: Yeah absolutely and I agree a lot of times when you go into college you kind of go in with these big expectations of I need to go with a science degree or like a very you know a big degree. And you know just have like you said the professors really are big influences in your time at those universities and just hearing their own experiences and their own encouragement of just saying hey you know any possible career or life that you want is very possible. It's just figuring out what works for you and what drives you.

Because the last thing you want to do is go into a field for you know a career and not feel fulfilled in it and feel that you didn't take the road that you should have taken. And not that saying that you can't restart at any age but it's always it's a blessing to know that I was able to figure it out within my undergraduate degree.

Lakin: Since you started creating what medium or media have you explored with?

Skylar: I started off with just your basic pen, paper, pencils, charcoals. At the beginning of my art journey I used to be really against color. I hated anything with color partly because I didn't quite understand it either. It was really intimidating but in having different art teachers and professors they were able to kind of you know break those walls of just the intimidation of certain mediums.

And I took a lot of classes in college to kind of learn you know different styles of art. So I had to I now have kind of expanded my artistry with not only traditional illustration but I'm also an oil painter, acrylic painter. I took a print making class in college and now I started implementing that in my own work.

So I do linoleum prints. I also taught myself how to bead about two years about three years ago I'd say. Yeah those have been my my main sources of work as well as of course my digital work as well.

Meranden: When we first met you I really liked your bags and I was like really excited for you to come out here because I was like I'm gonna buy it finally. But yeah like I like your bags and then the stickers it's just like it brings like a really homey vibe of like being back home on the rez. The spam can, the cheii, like all those things.

I really like those kind of little reminders that make you feel like back at home. So those are my favorite that I really enjoyed seeing. And then I have seen like your beadwork and things like that on like socials.

So it's really cool to see how you've diversified yourself over time.

Lakin: And I also feel like when you do approach those I guess a new skill set, you go into it knowing that you'll have some mistakes and failures in that initial learning process. But once you get over that learning curve it becomes I would say like therapeutic in a way.

Skylar: Absolutely, absolutely. I always you know in taking all of those classes or you know the self-teaching component, I feel like those challenges are what pushes me like no I'm gonna figure this out. I want to figure this out.

This is something I've always wanted you know. And it also is really neat because the more that I have expanded the mediums that I work with, the more that I'm realizing a lot of them kind of bleed into each other. That you don't have to just use certain skills from one type of artistry.

You can use it for multiple. Like I have recently just started blending my beadwork and paintings. Like I feel like there's a way that you can merge different styles of artwork together to kind of create your own unique style but also improve upon many different you know parts of your your art.

Lakin: And I feel like that's a special characteristic of being an innovator or a visionary. So yeah.

Meranden: Yesterday was Veterans Day.

This is our Veterans Day special episode. We are very interested in highlighting your art as it revolves around the Navajo Code Talkers. Would you be able to explain a little bit of who they are and what your artwork entails?

Skylar: Yeah absolutely. So you know my initial interest in this project that I created really did stem from not only by having family who had served in the military. My husband is currently on active duty in the army now. But also just you know I feel like this is such an important part of history that's not as highlighted in your history courses within the education system.

And I didn't realize that until I left the rez. Until I was in college on the east coast. And I have always get questions like "Oh where are you from? What are you?" And I'm like I'm Navajo.

I'm from the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. And they're like "What is that?" And I'm like what do you mean what is that? And just those countless interactions of people just not even knowing who the Navajo people are was really that it was such a big eye-opener for me to know that like wow people don't have the privilege of learning that history. And being one of the few indigenous students on that campus and since I had switched my major to you know art I thought this would be a great opportunity to kind of utilize the skills into creating some sort of visual memorial but also a way for others to be a little more awa