Tamara Burgh

Pony Pot

2010

Tamara Ann Burgh (Swede/Inupiat-Kawerak) combines modern technique and the tactile appeal of material from nature, a dichotomy that in many ways reflects the two worlds she inhabits. She writes: For the majority of my life, I lived and worked in a Caucasian world while my Native heritage remained in the background. I now focus on what my Nativeness means to me: specifically, how to imagine my experience as a part Native woman. I wonder how “Native” one must be to be considered a legitimate Indigenous person in creative circles. I consider what it is like to live in a white man’s world, presumed one of them, while protecting, yet declaring, the heretofore unrealized Native part of myself. Despite the shame around Native culture that Tamara experienced throughout her childhood, she hopes the works of The Enculturated White Man series may heal intergenerational trauma and provide a positive influence for generations to come. Tamara Burgh graduated with a studio art degree from Illinois State University. She then worked for Chicago publishing companies as a graphic artist and illustrator. She has also lived and worked in Alaska, Australia, and Wisconsin. Her works are represented in the permanent collections of the college and public library in Nome, Alaska and University of Alaska, Juneau. In 2020, Burgh’s work was exhibited in a two-person show, FRAMED, at IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, NM, alongside the work of Luanne Redeye, and in a major group show at form & concept, titled Live Wire and made in collaboration with New Mexico Fiber Arts Center.