₊˚⊹ Evelyn Mikayla Martin ₊˚⊹

Photos from the making of the film companion piece to my art installation “NDN Girlhood”. Stay tuned… • WHERE DOES SHE GO WHEN SHE SLEEPS A Film Companion to Mikayla Martin’s NDN Girlhood Installation A FOREIGNERZ Production [@sansfuccs ] Starring: Mikayla Martin, Carly Weasel Child, Sierra Shade, Sofia Eaglehead @itsooaakii @carlycheyenne @sayashade @sofiaeagleheadbaptiste Creative Director: CONTRA @cartel.contra Producer: Eman Safadi @emansafadi1 Photographer: Michaela Neuman @equidiem Lighting Director: Sacha Titmarsch @thefridgelocker Cinematographer: Vince Raquel @vinceraquel Day 2 Styling: Stephanie Eagletail Designs @steph_eagletail & @threadsbythea Mikayla Martin’s Day 2 dress by: @aravenwoman Production Assistant: Tyreek Fullwood @itstyreekfullwood_ Client: @yycarts @telus

Presenting: ‘WHERE DOES SHE GO WHEN SHE SLEEPS’ A TELUS Art While You Wait series This epic, cinematic journey is now accessible to all Calgarians passing by 1st Street C-Train station. Across 6 massive screens sitting side by side, the public will take in Mikayla Martin’s dream world filled with Indigenous women, defiant and thriving. Going deeper into the thesis of her ‘NDN Girlhood’ Installation, Martin uses the film to display a visual representation of her conquering oppressive obstacles, exerting a triumphant indigenous futurism wherein she re-imagines a better reality for Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people to exist in. “Having a strong sense of cultural identity & using artistic expression to work through life’s challenges in relation to mental health struggles is what kept me alive & creating.” - Mikayla Martin “In the film, I wanted to ruminate on Mikayla’s artistic thesis in both a dramatic and majestic way. What are the rhythms of our subconscious when we are alone? What are the ambitions of our histories speaking through us when we move past a reclusive state? Where do we really go when we sleep, who do we become and who do we wish to see?” - Contra, Director Link in bio for the large scale Vimeo version! A FOREIGNERZ Production [@sansfuccs ]  Starring: Mikayla Martin, Carly Weasel Child, Sierra Shade, Sofia Eaglehead @itsooaakii @carlycheyenne @sayashade @sofiaeagleheadbaptiste Creative Director: CONTRA @cartel.contra Producer: CONTRA @cartel.contra , Eman Safadi  @emansafadi1 Cinematographer: Vince Raquel @vinceraquel Editors: Vince Raquel, CONTRA, Eman Safadi Lighting Director: Sacha Titmarsch @thefridgelocker Sound Design: CONTRA, Jae Sterling @jaesterling Unit Photographer: Michaela Neuman @equidiem Day 1 Costume & Styling: Imaan Sunderji @inherited.by.imaan Day 2 Costume & Styling: Jackets by Stephanie Eagletail Designs & Thea Thomas, Mikayla Martin’s dress by Alice Oligario steph_eagletail @threadsbythea @aravenwoman Day 1 Hair & Makeup: Tara Murphy @taracmurphymua Production Assistant: Tyreek Fullwood @itstyreekfullwood_ Music: Inertia by Bloom, face2face by neverforever. Client: Arts Commons & Telus Sky @yycarts @telus

I got to bring a piece of my dream world to the biennale. I’m honored to have been awarded the Lorenzo Magnífico Award in the Video Art Category, Special Commendation From the President of the International Biennale of Contemporary Art and Design here in Florence, Italy. I’ve worked hard for many years in my own artistic practice, community centered art and curatorial projects independently. Representing my community, my family, and my foremothers in a way that does them justice is always at the forefront of my mission as an artist. I’m grateful to have moments where I get to receive my flowers! Thank you to my sponsor for the biennale. It was an honor and privilege to be funded and supported by @muckleshootindiantribe as the first Native American/Blackfeet person to exhibit at this event. Much love to the incredible film team I had the pleasure of working with for “WHERE DOES SHE GO WHEN SHE SLEEPS” A Film Companion to my NDN Girlhood Installation: Starring: Evelyn Mikayla Martin, Carly Weasel Child, Sierra Shade, Sofia Eaglehead @itsooaakii @carlycheyenne @sayashade @sofiaeagleheadbaptiste Creative Director: CONTRA @cartel.contra Producer: Eman Safadi @emansafadi1 Photographer: Michaela Neuman @equidiem Lighting Director: Sacha Titmarsch @thefridgelocker Camera Operator: Vince Raquel @vinceraquel Day 1 Styling: @inherited.by.imaan Day 2 Styling: Stephanie Eagletail Designs @steph_eagletail & @threadsbythea Mikayla Martin’s Day 2 dress by: @aravenwoman Production Assistant: @itstyreekfullwood_ Client: @yycarts @telus & @zasanja for connecting us for this project. So’kaapii! <3

omw to firenze🪽 with my heavy artist heart in hand.✋🏽 🫀🪡

Sweet portrait sittings in LA.❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:✴︎˚｡⋆ Conversations about transcendental meditation & dreaming of the rev. Without dreaming a new reality is impossible! We artistes have some pieces available for purchase at @rayandroysmarket : @checosinclair @itsooaakii @aaniiiiiiiii___ @apokrify My LA based angels go see what’s up & support working artists! If you want a curatorial walk thru hit up @apokrify <3

“Something Cosmic and Semiaquatic” 18x14 inch acrylic on canvas, 2026. What’s above us and below us will never be for sale. Swan dive into my mind & ruminate on where real power lies. In the dirt & in the sky. • Been contemplating decolonial dreamscapes & whipping out new works by the water before I’m overseas & in the air again!!🪽

Here are some of my recent star girl sculptures. From canvas to clay, they’re an extension of my inner world. ⋆｡°✩⋆˚꩜｡⋆⭒˚.⋆ Not named or glazed yet~ Left a few in LA for another exhibition with @apokrify & some mayyy come with me to Santa Fe this summer! Ty to curator/good sis zora who recognized the likelihood of this medium resonating with me.

In this workshop we reflected, got present, & set intentions for this coming year. Connecting & plotting within this Native femme circle was exactly what I needed to get centered. Thank you for having me @meztliprojects ! & thanks to the good sisters @jazzypants_ @aaniiiiiiiii___ & @apokrify for bridging this connection! It was an honor to be welcomed into your carefully crafted space to help guide other Ndn girls through their own visual processing. We all have the power within ourselves to be the tellers of our own stories!✍🏽 🎨🌜👩🏻‍❤️‍👩🏻🌛💫 We can combat this current push towards western individualism by gathering & world building together! 🕯️🤍🤝🏽

“OUR ONGOING BATTLE: THE MASKED COWARDS & THEIR INEVITABLE KARMIC RETRIBUTION.” 20x16 inch acrylic on canvas, 2026. No one is illegal on stolen land. I put everything on hold to let this one flow out of me. If this piece makes you uncomfortable I want you to remember: Art is historical. Art is for record keeping. Art is inherently political facing. And we all know the true foundation of this continued fight is nothing new to us Native people. This is the sick & twisted wild west show that america itself was built on. The veil has lifted for many of you that were previously numb. Welcome to our lived apocalypse. Why do things have to get this bad for the collective to finally start discussing world building? My love and my rage coincide. Rooted in one another. I want better for our people, the land, and the collective consciousness. What role will you play to work towards a just reality for all of us to reside in? The last 2 slides are protest art by artists I’ve had the pleasure to work with in my own curatorial projects.

My very late & brief 2025 recap featuring wild alignments, much gratitude, beautiful people, & opportunities. Thought I’d post a recap dump before 2026 projects start getting executed! I’ll be in my office! aka a dreamworld of my own volition. 🛌 💭🌀 The Gregorian calendar doesn’t mean much to a Native girl that abides by Ndn time & universal alignment. BUT I love a moment of reflection. <3 🧘🏻‍♀️ Also wanted to include all the proud moments I had related to @runningcrowentertainment ‘s accomplishments. My younger sibling who I’ve always been a second mom to. I’d like to believe you get some of your creative genius & diva tendencies from me. 🤝🏽👩🏻‍❤️‍👩🏻

I’m painting my feelings & making prints again! New limited edition fine art prints & totes are now available on my site. Link in bio. There’s nothing I love more than seeing my work on your bedroom walls. Because it’s been so long since I’ve made my artwork available for you to purchase online, I wanted to include a new tote design paired with each print. Lots of girlies have asked me to bring back the tote bags! Be well and keep creating. They don’t want us to forge our own dream worlds via art, but my craft continues to sustain me nonetheless.🖼️ 🌙 🛌

“Her Lived Apocalypse” 4.2ft x 3.4ft acrylic on canvas, 2025. No matter where I am in the world or what I’m doing, I carry the story of my great grandmother Evelyn. She was abducted by government agents as a child and stolen away from her family to attend Saint Paul’s Indian Residential School.  Evelyn was forcibly held in this violent institution. At age 15, she rescued herself and counted coup on the people that captured her. I know that our grit and ability to overcome is inlaid in my bones from many generations ago. In this painting, I process the stories of survival that are carried by many of the women in my lineage. These stories live at the forefront of my own mind. They fuel me to keep fighting for a reality that Native women can thrive in. One where we are certainly the tellers of our own stories.  We have no choice but to build our own worlds and continue to work to honor the ones that have existed prior to us for millennia. • I’m dropping a limited amount of new prints next week. If you feel like copping more visual representations of my dark Native grl lore keep an eye out. <3