Maxx Stevens (Seminole/Muskogee Nation of Oklahoma Region) MFA, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1987. Several exhibits throughout the US and in Canada. Numerous awards. Has taught Sculpture and Foundation Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design, Indiana University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and White Mountain Arts Academy. Currently Dean, Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM).

Maxx Stevens' installation Four Directional House is a reflection of her experiences growing up in a large, Seminole family in Wichita, Kansas. Like many Native people she was confronted with the conflicting interests of Christianity and indigenous interpretations of the world. The cross-shape of her suspended dwelling refers to Native understandings of the four directions, but could also refer to Christianity. The experience of living in a small home with up to ten family members is evoked through the thin walls of the structure. Much like the shadow of an airplane moving across the landscape of her childhood, the cross-shaped shadow on the Astroturf is impermanent. Stevens was a child of a generation of dislocated and relocated Native American families.

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