Bio

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Alyssa-Hinton-bioUsing vibrant colors that awaken the soul, mixed media artist, Alyssa Hinton, illustrates a theme of cultural regeneration through her unique southeastern Native American imagery. Her work is a provocative portrayal of the folklore and history surrounding her roots, utilizing tradition and vision with a contemporary edge.

Alyssa creates mixed media art ranging from photo collage, to digital painting and composite, to assemblage, to mixed media fiber appliqué, to fiber installation. Her artist background is unique in that she uses mixed media as a form of reconciliation, where the unsettled fragments of her life experience are sewn together like sections of a patchwork quilt.

Internationally trained, and of mixed heritage, Alyssa draws on a rather eclectic background. This has allowed her to create art with universal appeal, investigating on many levels and challenging conventional parameters of “expected” Indian imagery. Her recent themes reflect an attempt to untangle a complicated web of events pertaining to the displacement of her Tuscarora (Eastern North Carolina) and Osage (Missouri/Kansas) ancestors.

Alyssa’s narrative earth conscious works speak to the preservation of both the ecology and indigenous spiritual traditions. They bring to light aspects of a distinct but under represented southeastern Native experience, one whose basic world view is rooted in ancient Mississippian mound culture. On a more personal note, by uncovering what has been denied or seemingly lost, the work also chronicles the artist’s “inner restoration”.

Venues:

Alyssa has exhibited her mixed media art throughout the country and abroad. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the highly coveted Mid-Atlantic/NEA Regional Painting Fellowship. She has appeared on NBC TV and been featured in various publications, including Native Peoples Magazine and Random House’s Official Price Guide to Native American Art.

Selected venues include Artrain USA’s “Native Views; Influences of Modern Culture”, the Smithsonian NMAI Inaugural First Americans Art Market in Washington, D.C., the “Honor the Earth; Impacted Nations” exhibition tour, “Relations: Indigenous Dialogue” at the IAIA in Santa Fe, the FedEx Global Education Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, The Museum of the Southeast American Indian and the 3rd Biennial Contemporary American Indian Arts Series, A.D. Gallery, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Duhesa Gallery, University of Colorado at Fort Collins, Frederic Jameson Gallery, Duke University, Durham, NC, the George Boole Library, University College Cork, Ireland and China Academy of Art, Hangzhou China.

Education:

Alyssa earned her B.F.A. from Tyler School of Art and her M.A. in Art & Design from North Carolina State University. She has studied overseas at the University of Grenoble, Parson’s in Paris, Beijing University, and the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. She was born in Philadelphia in 1962 and now lives in Durham, North Carolina.