D.Y. Begay

D.Y. Begay (b. 1953) is a Navajo textile artist born into the Tó’tsohnii (Big Water) Clan and born from the Táchii'nii (Red Streak Earth) Clan.

Begay is a fourth generation weaver who grew up surrounded by women weavers. From them she learned sheep herding and shearing, and working with wool. She learned to spin and card wool, and traditional Navajo weaving. Her mother taught her to identify plants to make dyes and the dyeing process. At the age of 12, Begay sold her first rug.She later studied fiber arts at Arizona State University where she received her teacher's certificate. She lives in Tselani on the Navajo Nation and in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Her artwork is influenced by her Navajo identity and the beauty of nature and the colors of the landscape, flora and fauna. She experiments with combining a natural color palette with unconventional non-reservation color. She has traveled extensively to Bolivia, Guatemala, and Mexico to learn with other indigenous makers.

Begay's work has been exhibited at the National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Institution in New York; the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts; the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, New Mexico; the C.N. Gorman Museum in Davis, California; the Kennedy Museum of Art, Athens, Ohio; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston among others. Her artwork was included in the exhibition "Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists." She describes her work in relation to her cultural heritage: "Everything in my weaving is natural. I use the same techniques passed from my ancestors to me to create designs that have artistic and traditional value."

Begay was named a 2018 USA Fellow by the United States Artists organization. In 2010 she received a SWAIA Discovery Fellowship, which supported her travel to Peru to work in collaboration with weavers there and participate in a Tinkuy de Tejedores gathering of weavers.

Begay's work is included in the collection of the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.