Title: Strength from Within
Artist: Melanie Yazzie
Type: Sculpture
Material: Powder coating, steel (alloy)
Location: Streetside, at Pearl Street and 16th Street, southwest corner
Year: 2020
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Strength from Within, created by Diné artist Melanie Yazzie, is located on the corner of Pearl Street and 13th Street. This powder-coated steel sculpture symbolizes the strength existing within oneself needed to heal, survive, and to carry on in life. When reflecting upon Strength from Within, Yazzie described the work as “a self-portrait of my state of mind when I am working on fixing things from inside myself.” When conceptualizing the sculpture, she drew upon the experience of returning to health after being in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in 1997.
Melanie Yazzie sees her position as an artist to be an agent of change and to inspire communities to improve societal conditions. She also uses this position to engage with the histories that affect Native peoples today. In an interview for the VoyageDenver magazine artist spotlight, Yazzie describes how Diné “are taught to seek out beauty and create it with our thoughts, action, and prayers.” Her art originates from her Diné identity, and each work responds to personal experiences and life events. The artworks are also thought-provoking commentaries on the daily struggles of Native communities.