I was born into a traditional Zuni family in 1985. It was the moment I started walking that my mother believed I was going to be an artist one day. She said I could hardly stand yet but I was still able to draw a picture of Mickey Mouse on her living room wall with a red crayon. I too believe it was then that I was trying to “break out” as an artist, something of which I still strive for today.
Raised as traditionally as modernly possible, I’ve come to revere the culture in which I was molded from. I express this throughout my pieces, whether on canvas or on each pot that gets a nice slather of paint that I harvested up at the mesas surrounding my village. My versatility in artistic creations was birthed in the artisan community of the Zuni Pueblo. It is everywhere, in every corner, and on every grandmas’ living room wall. It is something some of us from the village cannot come to find the words for. We were born into this, it is our sixth sense. Creativity reeks in every Zuni’s household, for a majority of us, it is our livelihood. This is why, regardless of my healthcare career interests, I had to take my art to a whole other level and beyond the crafts person that most of us are known to be. However, my weekend schedule still consists of vending my arts and crafts locally and virtually. I cater to what most people find aesthetic in the community, whether for gift giving like decorated wooden boxes and etched glass to more culturally needed items like stew bowls and sash belts.
It is evident that my use of design and motif is but a homage to the culture I grew up in. I was fortunate to have gone to college and graduate with a degree in Biology and Art Studio. With the two types of art and science sometimes clashing, it is actually what got me through both fields of study. The stress of the other balanced the whole. Having a post-secondary art education opened more depths of art capabilities for me, especially those in the contemporary. The contemporary genre is something most traditional artists from my village laugh and point at because it isn’t what it’s made out to be. We as artists grew up more matter of fact in our art portrayals, very realists in our eyes. So when things pushed the edge of norm, it was looked upon as “ugly” by local artists.
With the need to stay as realistic as possible with tremendous color, or give way to artistic relaxation and let your mind paint the canvas, I felt like I was at a crossroads. I was chosen to do a mural for the Zuni Map Art Project regarding the Grand Canyon and its connection to Zuni. It was to me my most horrific failure. I was at the center of the tug of war of stay traditional or go contemporary or just make a plein-air landscape. It however is one of my most exhibited piece. My next mural came a lot smoother and is thus my most popular. The mural at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center bought me back down to earth and made me remember that I paint from the heart. It is my most favorite because of the place-making power it has and especially that it is so obviously Zuni-made. It was there the light bulb came on and has not yet shut off. If I stay rooted to my heritage and the artist it made me, it opens doors wider than trying to push it aside and submerge myself into unknown waters. It is my guide as I make the journey through the perils of making a single piece of art. My heart has to be in it, otherwise it is just colors on a canvas.
It would be a great honor to share my creations to a broader audience. I find that most of the art I create starts conversations and sharing of knowledge. There is much symbolism that I use so that we can all share the blessings in which these symbols ask for. They are not just designs shot off the hip or created in imagination, but lines created from stories of an ancient people. The designs I utilize do just that. It is important that these traditions and stories are not lost. It is modern cave painting and petroglyph carvings. It is important to me that I pass down this knowledge through my artwork. This opportunity will give me that arena to do so. Thank you for visiting my page.
