Marlena Myles: Innerworld Prism
In partnership with Street Factory Media
35 7th Street West, Saint Paul

Saint Paul-based visual artist Marlena Myles creates digital art animations inspired by her Dakota heritage, bringing “intricate designs, animals, city streets, and people to life in a colorful, dream-like world” (89.3 The Current). Innerworld Prism (6 min.), commissioned by The Great Northern, will debut on loop, projected onto Highlight Tower in Northeast Minneapolis on January 27, and make its way across Minneapolis & Saint Paul at surprise locations Jan 28 – Jan 31. Locations will be announced about one hour prior (5:00 pm) to each pop-up on The Great Northern’s Instagram. Projections will run from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. Keep an eye out for updates.

About the work
“A movement of shadows and luminance in a forest from one's dreams is calling. We find that the brighter the light, the more darkness is revealed, like a prism that fragments and disperses our vision. And at first, not much is understood, but there is the blissful feeling one is pushing in the right direction, where reality becomes the door to a rebirth. This animated journey is the loss of Ego to regain Nature, a reverie of ourselves to cherish and explore.”—Marlena Myles

About Marlena Myles
Marlena Myles is a self-taught Native American (Spirit Lake Dakota, Mohegan, Muscogee) artist located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She has gained recognition as being one of the few Dakota women creating digital art including fabric patterns, animations and illustrations to bring modernity to indigenous history, languages and oral traditions. Growing up on her traditional Dakota homelands here in the Twin Cities, she enjoys using her artwork to teach Minnesotans of all backgrounds the indigenous history of this place we call home.