BFA THESIS EXHIBITS

Inkpa Mani

Year Graduated: 2019

Inkpa Mani is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota, Tarahumara, and Mexica. He grew up in the lands now knowns as Chihuahua, Mexico and Minnesota. His work uses social engagement to share the many injustices faced by Native Americans. Inkpa is a multi-discipline artist using stone, paint, and paper, digital media, and public speaking to explore Indigenous issues. He will earn his BFA with an emphasis in paining this spring. He is working to be a Fine Arts Professor. His process involves oral histories, institutional research, and critical theory to highlight the concerns of his people.

Artist Statement

Inkpa’s artistic practice also involves speaking engagements and community sharing circles to distribute information. Inkpa has worked on projects addressing sexual assault of Indigenous people and its effect on communities, cross generational trauma and how to address it in a culturally competent manner, Native American health disparities in mental and physical health, and many other areas of research for his art. Inkpa also engages in social activism for human rights to share his communities concerns. His work can be found regionally and nationally in private and public collections and has been mentioned in Teen Vogue, Washington Magazine, New York Times, Common Ground, The Star Tribune, Pioneer TV, and other media outlets for his involvement in social equality movements.

PORTFOLIO