In Crossing Anna Tsouhlarakis makes a connection between the Thames in London and the Hudson in New York, two rivers with strong historical associations, as well as personal associations for the artist. The video features two simultaneous boat rides with a woman in profile book ending both frames. A mixture of voices is heard. Tour guides talk about docks, boating and the activity on the shoreline. The woman recounts Henry Hudson’s impressions of his journey to the New World. A second voice is intertwined recounting her impressions. Tsouhlarakis is interested in reclaiming native identity by breaking down stereotypical images of Indians and redefining what Native means. By using multiple screens and voices in this video she deals with ideas of exploration and collapses the past into the present while she inserts herself into a picture that unites these places.

Anna Tsouhlarakis is of Navajo, Creek and Greek background. She grew up surrounded by art, with early memories of her father’s studio and of visiting art exhibitions with her family. Exposure to many Native American artists from different generations, working in a range of mediums has helped her to define a focus that encompasses sculpture, video and performance. Her solo exhibitions include Clash of the Titans at the Navajo Nation Museum, Window Rock, AZ, and the American Indian Community House, New York, NY; as well as fixations at the Downtown Contemporary Art Center, Albuquerque, NM. Her video Lets Dance! was included in Remix: New Modernities in a Post-Indian World which traveled from the Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ, to the National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY. She has participated in residencies at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY; Grand Canyon National Park Artist Residency, North Rim, AZ; Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME. She earned her MFA from Yale University, New Haven, CT, and her BA from Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.

More information can be found at www.naveeks.com/anna.html