Roxanne Swentzell
&
Diego Romero
"Apprehensive
Grin"
10 3/4"
total height
8"
H x 6 1/4" W
Roxanne Swentzell, Native
American sculptor and contemporary pueblo artist with a gallery
located near Santa Fe New Mexico. Her figures represent a full
range of emotions and irrepressible moods. Roxanne focuses a
lot on interpretative female portraits attempting to bring back
the balance of power between the male and female, inherently
recognized in her own culture.
Additionally, she increasingly
uses a powerful sense of humor to communicate. Though steeped
in her own culture, Roxanne's work demonstrates an astounding
universality, speaking to people of all cultures.
Roxanne Swentzell (born 1962,
Taos, New Mexico) is a renown Santa Clara Pueblo ceramic sculptor
sculptor from Santa Clara Pueblo. Swentzell is known for her
rounded figures of indigenous people, primarily women. Her mother,
Rina Swentzell is a noted Native Americana artist and scholar.
Roxanne Swentzell loved art
from an early age. As a child, Swentzell struggled with a speech
impediment that prevented her from communicating. Unable to articulate
her emotions through words she began to make miniature figures
in clay to convey her feelings. The sculptures she created as
a means to express herself to others continues to be her primary
artistic medium to date.
While still in high school,
Swentzell attended the Institute for American Indian Arts in
Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1979, the young artist left home for
the Portland Museum Art School Art School because of its emphasis
on the human figure. At the Portland Museum Art School she progressively
grew unhappy. After one year in Portland, the homesick Swentzell
returned to Santa Clara Pueblo. Back in her native soil she began
to build her family and home while her creativity flourished.
Swentzell’s clay sculptures
have moved and delighted audiences around the world. Her artistic
endeavors have won awards Swentzell numerous awardssince her
early twenties.
Swentzell’s first display
of her work was at the annual Indian Market in Santa Fe in 1984;
two years later she won a total of eight awards for her sculpture
and pottery at the same event. In 1994, Swentzell also won the
Market’s Creative Excellence in Sculpture award. Swentzell’s
work has a contemporary twist while still being grounded in her
Native American history with reflects a deep respect for the
earth, family, and tradition. Her sculptures have showcased at
the White House in Washington, D.C. and in galleries and museums
worldwide.
Some of her permanent installations
are at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American
Indian, Cartier in Paris, the Santa Fe Convention Center, and
the Museum of Wellington in New Zealand.
- Wikipedia June 2012
Diego Romero was born in Berkeley,
California in 1960. His father is Santiago Romero, a Cochiti
Pueblo Indian, and his mother is Nellie Guth, a European-American.
Diego, like his mother, was born and raised in Berkeley, California,
but spent his childhood summers at Cochiti, New Mexico. Romero's
father was a traditional painter.
Romero's first mentor in clay
was Navajo ceramicist Nathan Begaye. After art school in California,
he attended the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa
Fe. After one year at IAIA, he enrolled at Otis Parsons School
of Design in Los Angeles, where he earned his BFA degree. He
moved on to University of California, Los Angeles where he received
his MFA in 1993.
While at UCLA, Romero found
his style. He created ceramic pots, painted in gold, that wedded
traditional Anasazi and Mimbres designs with Greek black-figure
vase painting styles.[1] This marriage of styles gave birth to
his "Chongo Brothers" series.
A chongo is a Southwest Native
man who wears his hair in a traditional bun. Romero combines
with humor and biting social commentary as he paints pots narrating
the exploits of the Chongo Brothers and Coyote — documenting
their interactions with traditional Native, historical Spanish
and Anglo, and contemporary mainstream societies.
- Wikipedia June 2012
This mask was a collaborative
piece by Roxanne and Diego for a special show at a prestigious
Santa Fe gallery in 1997.