Alliana Atencio

Yá’át’ééh, shí eí Alliana Atencio yinishyé. Hello, my name is Alliana Atencio, I am a Navajo (Diné) artist from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I enjoy running, dancing, reading, crafting and spending quality time surrounded by those I love most.

The boundless energy of the universe inspires my work with messages, views, stories and emotions. A reflection of modern spirituality and personal anecdotes of living a double life as an Asdzáán (woman) on Nahasdzáán (earth). I specialize in creating pieces with ink, digital art, oil painting, watercolor and mixed media to convey my ideas about the universe collaborating with self.

To me, the moon symbolizes a celestial feminine being glowing in the twilight sky. Tł’éé’honaa’éí (moon) is a sacred entity with a powerful gravitational pull that controls tides, seasons and nature. Life, like the moon, has phases; like a woman, we go through highs and lows like ocean waves.

The Navajo traditional story ‘The Sun, Moon, and Stars’ describes how the First Man and First Woman created the stars to offer light to the First People. The moon is thought to be made of a white shell disc and was designed to provide coolness and moisture. With brightness, comes darkness.