2009: E Newsletter #2
July 14, 2009 - SWAIAThe SWAIA Fellowship Program was established in 1980 to provide financial support to emerging and talented Indian artists from across the nation. The program provides each Fellowship winner with a $5,000 cash award and a booth at the Santa Fe Indian Market.Fellowship funds enable artists to build new studios, travel, develop marketing plans, purchase supplies or equipment, expand their knowledge or explore new artistic directions.
Fellowship winners will be celebrated at the SWAIA Honoring Reception along with Lifetime Achievement and Povika Award Honorees on June 4, 2009, at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino. This is a great opportunity to meet the Fellowship Winners in person and view their extraordinary work.
Liz Wallace, Dine, Jewelry
Some of the earliest memories I have are of making things. My grandmother, Nina Wallace, taught me to sew when I was around four years old. I remember a little cardboard box of scraps she gave me, with needles, pins, and thread inside. I made a stick figure portrait of her, complete with the beauty mark on her chin, and she immediately tacked it to her bedroom wall. It stayed there until it got brittle and yellow. I made all kinds of things with her. Sock dolls, books, and drawings. There were plenty of grasshoppers, caterpillars, and moths around her house too. My dad was always making jewelry in the garage, but the torch and glowing silver scared the heck out of me. Now I love it. Watching a pile of jagged scraps melt into an orange, quivering puddle, the torch hissing in my hand and the smell of melting borax is what sustains me. I hardly ever think of the Monet water lilies my dad took me to see, or when Grandma took me to the Japanese Gardens in San Francisco with the grey beaches, sea lions and broken shells, or the little yellow
caterpillars that hung from black walnut trees on silk and ambushed me, but all of that is there anyway, every time I sketch or fire up my torch. I never would have guessed that riding around in Grandma's mint green Oldsmobile would've led me to where I am, but I'm not surprised either.
Jared Chavez, San Felipe Pueblo, Jewelry
When I was ten years old I wandered into my father's studio one summer day and complained of having nothing to do. My father told me he would teach me how to make jewelry, but only if I put all of my effort into the process. He taught me the necessary skills of sawing, filing, soldering, and polishing, and left the design process to me. In May of 2005 I graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. While I was there I majored in studio art with an emphasis in digital media. I became involved in filmmaking and completed two movies, along with developing skills in web and photo editing. Although I enjoyed digital media, I learned the art of printmaking during my junior year, and that ultimately become the final focus of my studies. I was encouraged to move beyond what was being taught in class and transitioned from aluminum plate lithography to intaglio etching, and finally to woodblock printing, all the while maintaining the original design style that I had developed during all my years as a metal-smith. In January of 2006 I took part in the Graduate Jeweler program at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, California. I completed the twenty-two course graduate program that involved classes ranging from basic fabrication to precious stone setting. Today, I continue to explore design possibilities in my metal work. I have come to be known by the textures I implement into my work along with the guitar wire outlines, which define my overall style. I also maintain my passion for printmaking, taking it up whenever I have the time to do so.
www.chavezstudio.com
Shelden Nunez-Velarde, Jicarilla Apache Nation, Pottery
I am a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation," Ollero clan" of Northern N.M. As a child I have always been attracted to my great, great, great grandmother "O' Ha's," pottery. During that time, my grandmother could only remember her grandmother making pottery. No one in our family knew how to make pottery anymore. At the age of 13, I learned how to make pottery from Lydia Pesata, a Traditional Jicarilla Artist. From that point in time I grew up with Micaceous Clay. I enjoy adding the old appliqué techniques that were used 3 generations ago. Through self cultural awareness and personal inspirations, I have made profound endeavors in perfecting my work and in educating others about the long traditional presence of Jicarilla Micaceous Pottery. I have participated in major art shows throughout the U.S., including Santa Fe Indian Market, Heard Fair, Southwest Museum Fair, Eiteljorg, etc. and have won many awards. I am also an accomplished beadworker, specializing in moccasins, Apache buckskin dresses, and dolls. My main focus in life is to teach and share with my Jicarilla people what I have learned from my creative Apache grandmothers and Lydia Pesata and to especially continue what was almost lost, Micaceous pottery.
www.jicarillaapachepottery.com
Daniel Moya, Pojoaque Pueblo, Diverse Arts
I always pay tribute to my grandparents, the Pueblo of Pojoaque, my family and close friends as I never could have made it this far without their support. I was seven years old when I began building pots and animal figures with my grandmother. During those same years, my grandfather taught me to admire the merits of horticulture and human culture. I graduated from Santa Fe High School and then from the University of New Mexico. I hold a Double BAFA in Pre-Columbian Art History and Art Studio. I was privileged enough to live and study abroad: China, Russia, Italy, Puerto Rico and Mexico where I also gained an extensive background in Language Study, Anthropology and Political Science. I began as an engineer but it only interfered with my devotion to the arts. Developing my sculpture style from a collective of cultures, I refer to my artistic genre as INDIGENISM because of the unique history which brought it to life (a mix of "indigenous" for aboriginal peoples and "Prism" because it reverberates light). Each sculpture begins with concepts drawn from my engineering background and then I incorporate artistic styles from global cultures but finish with indigenous motifs. I have painted with sprays, oils and acrylics, but I have grown to love the challenge and final look of Egg Tempera. I hold Diverse Arts Awards from SWAIA for 2007 and 2008.
tewa-art.com
Phillip Charette, Yup'ik, Diverse Arts
I am an Alaska Native Yup'ik artist specializing in sculpture, Yup'ik spirit masks, and Native musical instruments. While involved in art throughout my life, I began work as a full-time artist in 2001. Through a hands-on investigative and exploratory approach, my art expresses elements of traditional Yup'ik spirituality, cosmology, and power. My art is rooted in historic and traditional Yup'ik "ways of being" learned throughout my life. But, I utilize my own contemporary style, form, and perspectives in creating artwork. Spirits, Yup'ik cosmology, and spiritual beings are my primary subject matter. As a mixed media artist I work with numerous materials which include clay, wood, driftwood, glass, metal, stone, glass beads, rawhide, porcelain, feathers, quills, shells, bones, paint, and found objects. A rare Yup'ik art form, pottery is a foundation for my work. Clay sculptures are low fired or raku fired in home made kilns. All teeth, bones, and spirits are hand made of high-fired porcelain. A flame worker, I make my own glass beads.
Driftwood masks and sculptures are hand carved in a contemporary style. Traditional wood bending techniques are used in making spirit mask frames and Yup'ik drums. Native American style flutes are concert quality and made of hardwoods and low fired clays (including smoke fired, horse hair fired, and raku). My artistic goals are achieved though constant exploration and discovery of new methodologies, utilizing new materials, and in exploring new art forms. I hope to expose and educate people about the spiritual world of Yup'ik art.
www.yupikmask.com
For interview requests or more information on SWAIA programs, please contact Gabe Gomez at (505)983-5220 or ggomez@swaia.org