Evelyn Mikayla Martin
Artist Statement
Evelyn Mikayla Martin (Itsooaakii) [Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, Squamish, Comanche, and Filipina] is a visual artist and curator that centres and reclaims her own personal narrative regarding cultural identity and reclamation of space as a Blackfeet woman. She creates acclaimed vibrant self-portraits, billboards, and projects of reclamation.
“My body of work consists of multi-media self-portraiture including acrylic on canvas paintings, watercolour drawings, photography, and installation pieces highlighting the complexities of engaging in ancient cultural practices as a Blackfeet woman through a contemporary lens. My artwork reminds Blackfoot women, girls, and Aa’woowaakii (Two-Spirit individuals) that we are more than this inflicted extraction and intergenerational trauma that we face. Prior to colonization and today, we continue to hold pivotal roles in our community that can only be fulfilled by our unique gifts and knowledge. We are still rich in resiliency and all our cultural ways of being. We deserve to have space held for us where our voices can be centred, and our beauty can be celebrated. I achieve this through my curatorial projects and artwork that visually reflects this experience.”
-Evelyn Mikayla Martin (Itsooaakii)
Artist Biography
Evelyn Mikayla Martin (Itsooaakii) [Blackfeet Tribe of Montana] graduated with honors from the University of Washington (Seattle, WA) with a Bachelor of Arts in American Indian Studies with a minor in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. Mikayla was named to the University of Washington Dean’s List, is a member of the National Collegiate Scholars Honor Society and is also a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success.
Mikayla’s artwork has been installed in numerous international exhibitions. Most notably, her paintings have been installed at the Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA), Center on Contemporary Art: Identity, Representation, and Resistance (Seattle, WA), Arts Commons Window Galleries: Portraits of a Piikani Woman (Calgary, AB), Arts Commons Ledge Gallery: NDN Girlhood (Calgary, AB), La Macina di San Cresci (Tuscany, Italy) featured in Firenze Today, and most recently in 2025 The Chapter House: I Dreamt I Was Home Again (Los Angeles, CA) featured drawings and an installation by Mikayla Martin.
Mikayla is an art educator who works with Indigenous women, girls, and youth in her workshops to encourage participants to center their cultural identities and healing through visual arts. Mikayla creates acclaimed vibrant self-portraits, billboards, and projects of reclamation.
Ii’pait’aapiiyisinn: Art in the Contemporary and Ancient Blackfoot Way of Life debuted at Stride Gallery. Evelyn Mikayla Martin was the curator of this first all Blackfoot art exhibition to take place in the history of the city of Calgary, Alberta.
Mikayla hosted and moderated an artist talk featuring the four artists whose work was installed in the exhibition. The Stride Gallery team and Mikayla wrote and published an art publication to document the exhibition and artist’s work.
Mikayla was commissioned by The Bows artist-run centre and Arts Commons displaying her work on multiple large-scale billboards in Calgary, Alberta. This work encouraged the greater community to locate themselves and acknowledge that they are on Blackfoot traditional territory. Across massive screens downtown Calgary, AB the public viewed clips from WHERE DOES SHE GO WHEN SHE SLEEPS? a short arthouse film companion piece to Mikayla’s NDN Girlhood art installation. An addition to the Telus Art While You Wait series. Presented by Telus and Arts Commons. Partnered and funded by Royal Bank of Canada: RBC Emerging Visual Artist Program.
