EDUCATION

M.M.V.A, Master in Maori & Indigenous Visual Arts Massey University - Te Putahi-a-Toi, New Zealand, 2008
B.A. Ethnic Studies, University of Oregon, 2005

EXHIBITIONS & EXPERIENCES

2008
VIZIVAROSI GALERIA, Group Exhibition. Budapest, Hungary Curator/Facilitator: Olescher Tamas & Beata Szechy, June 2008
Portland State University, The Native American Student and Community Center Group Exhibition "Native Artists Making a Difference". Portland, Oregon Curator/Facilitator: U.I.S.H.E. March 6th, 2008
A.I.R., Artists in Residency, Exhibition, Seminar, Budapest, Hungary Curator/Facilitator: Beata Szechy December 27, - January 9, 2008

2007
Aveia Gallery, Celebrating "Matariki" (Maori New Year), Auckland, New Zealand. Group Exhibition: Touhoukura and Te Putahi-a-Toi Visual Arts Schools, Curator: Hana. June 2007
Te Putahi-a-Toi, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Solo Exhibition, Curator: Bob Jahnke. October 1-15th, 2007
I.W.O.K, Indigenous Ways of Knowing Conference, Lewis and Clark College Portland, Oregon. Featured Artist and Speaker, Solo Exhibition Curator: Seahdom Edmo November 1-3, 2007
Square Edge Gallery "The Vault and FORUM: Master of Maori Visual Arts, Te Putahi-a-Toi - School of Maori Studies", New Zealand, M.M.V.A. Group Exhibition, Curator: Carol Leckie. November 9 - December 9, 2007

2006 - 1998
Ballas, Private Collection, Portland, Oregon 2006
Mt Hood Community College, Visual Arts Gallery Portland, Oregon Collaborative War Exhibition 2005
John Trudell & Wilma Mankiller Leadership Conference & Film, Indigenous Solidarity Week, University of Oregon The Many Nations Longhouse. Solo Exhibition 2004- 2005
The Many Nations Longhouse Opening Ceremony, University of Oregon, Collaborative Exhibition 2004
Indigenous Solidarity Week, University of Oregon, Multi-Cultural Center. Solo Exhibition 2002-2005
Native American Youth Conference, Promoting Higher Education, University of Oregon. Solo Exhibition 2001-2005
L.I.F.E (Low Income Family Emergency) Building Mural, Martin Luther King Blvd. Portland, Oregon. Group Project 1998-1999

PUBLICATIONS
SPIRIT Magazine, Quarterly, "Riding a New Wave", "Ambo" 5x7 ft. 2007, Fall 2007
Democracy and Education Journal, Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling, Volume 17, No. 2 (Winter 2008) Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon. 2008
Red Ink Magazine, "Native Voices" Volume 14.1, The University of Arizona, Spring 2008

My name is Natalie Ball. I am an Indigenous artist from the Modoc and Klamath tribes of southern Oregon. I graduated from the University of Oregon in 2005 with a B.A. in Ethnic Studies and a Minor in Fine Arts. I am currently living in New Zealand with my daughter where I am in my second year of a Master degree program in Maori & Indigenous Visual Arts at Massey University.

From blood quantum to ethnographic portraiture, my work examines internal and external discourses that shape Indian identity. I use portraiture as my basis of critique and as a medium for my own auto-ethnographic methodology. Historical ethnographic portraits of Native Americans have constructed a visual genealogy that currently misinforms the experiences and expectations of “Indian” for non-Indians and Indians alike.

I am a great great grand daughter of Captain Jack who was the leader of the Modoc people during the war with the U.S. Military in 1872-1873. I am also a descendent of African slaves, English soldiers, and other tribes. In America’s narrative there is no explanation for my stories that are a result of America. War, treaty, termination as a tribe, relocation, restoration, genocide, intermarriage, loss of land, and identity are not found within its pages. The visual narration of my personal, family, and tribal stories is a refusal to line up with the expectations of “Indian”. It is here within my complex history where I produce my means of deflection.

My work is an attempt to move "Indian" outside of governing discourses with my own visual genealogy. My work is developing ways of seeing "Indian" that expose alternative histories and validates my own sense of self. I need my work for my own survival. Seeing myself reflected in my work denies these discourses the ability to dissolve me.