Landings: All About Place
The vast skies and wide panoramas of the New Mexican landscape have long been a source of inspiration for artists. As Willa Cather wrote in Death Comes For the Archbishop, “Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth was the floor of the sky.” The artists in Landings: All About Place at Gallery Hózhó at Hotel Chaco reflect our unique topography. Open from August 5 to September 28, Gallery Hózhó at Hotel Chaco will feature the ceramics, prints, paintings, and drawings of Jacob T. Frye, Linda Lomahaftewa, David Naranjo, Margarita Paz-Pedro, and Alex Peña.
Artist Statement:
Jacob Thomas Frye was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is a member of Tesuque Pueblo. He is a fourth-generation potter and painter. Frye comes from a diverse ethnic background that is true New Mexican. Frye’s mother is a traditional potter from Tesuque Pueblo, and his father is an artist from Ft. Collins, Colorado. Frye's passion for art and learning started when he was five years old, working alongside his parents with clay among other art forms. During his childhood education, he received first place in pottery at the Old School Gallery at El Morro Area Arts Council. In the fall of 2019 Frye received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Frye would like to continue his education with the Institute of American Indian Arts, by enrolling into the master’s program. Frye is inspired by great Renaissance Pueblo artists like artist Nampeyo from the Hopi Pueblo in north eastern Arizona, who gave life to Siyakki polychrome. In addition, his influences include Maria Martinez from San Idelfonso Pueblo who reestablished black on black pottery and his great grandfather Thomas Vigil “Pan Yo Pin,” form Tesuque pueblo who produced watercolor paintings in the 1900s.
Since receiving his BFA Frye has continued working on pottery. During 2021, Frye participated in the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Virtual Series, demonstrating his techniques within his building process of pottery. Frye also had the opportunity to give a hands-on pottery demonstration for The Doel Reed Center in Taos, New Mexico. Frye was also featured in the Poeh Cultural Center’s Pottery Demonstration compilation videos sponsored by the Smithsonian’s National Museum. Most recently Frye participated in a pottery demonstration at the “Here Now and Always” event hosted by the Museum of Indian Arts Culture. Keeping busy he continues to create pottery, enhance his abilities, and learn new techniques.
Artist Statement:
My family and our connection to our heritage (Hopi and Choctaw) guides and informs my world view and understanding of my place in life. All of my work is my interpretation or expression of what I have been taught and my life experiences. The medium I like to work in is acrylic and monotypes are my preferred method of printmaking.
Artist Statement:
For Pueblo people, art and tradition are very much one in the same. Our symbols and iconography are not only for ornate and decorative purposes but are visual representations the natural world, landscape, and, if used properly, for prayer. There is an undeniable truth to our craft and traditional and cultural knowledge that is deeply rooted and embedded within Pueblaon art forms.
My artistic inspiration comes from the beauty I experience within my community of Kha’Po Ohwingeh. My work integrates modern art forms and concepts paired with traditional Puebloan aesthetics to create contemporary Puebloan art. I want to depict, reimagine, and re-contextualize such designs and iconography while being respectful and keeping the integrity of the designs intact. Puebloan Pottery designs and geometrical linear work serve a specific purpose and retain meaning within a cultural context inclusive of the natural world, water/precipitation, and our emotional experiences. While others may see a series of lines and shapes, as Pueblo people we see a story, a prayer. Currently, I am creating work for Farahnheight Gallery and Khohay Apparel, creating my own personal narrative utilizing and depicting Puebloan symbols and imagery.
I find our way of life to be a form of poetry and seek to show understating and respect while making art as a form of prayer. In my work, I try to apply that same level of intimacy, understanding, and respect in order to create the beauty that radiates from my community of Santa Clara Pueblo. I am using and incorporating traditional forms and techniques and various forms of technology as a way to create, adapt, and preserve our cultural traditions. My work reflects and serves as an example of the ever-changing synthesis of modern culture and indigenous Puebloan traditions.
Artist Statement:
I draw my ideas from how time, place, life, material and culture intersect with my Mexican-American, Laguna Pueblo and Santa Clara Pueblo background within New Mexico. I create from who I am, where I am from and what I am interested in. Within the medium of ceramics, its vastness makes it difficult to choose one clay or way of creating in clay. However, in all of my practices, the process is just as integral as the outcome and often informs each other. They are many parts to the whole. My work is heavily embedded in materiality of clay, process and positioned in relation to place and land. Through my exploration of identity, history and experiences, I project my voice, gratitude and our interconnectedness.
Artist Statement:
Alex Peña, an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation in Oklahoma, considers different aesthetic values in his art. He incorporates cultural knowledge, interpersonal relationships, and the idea of beauty. He relies heavily on the process and he allows the media to dictate, refine, or enhance his statement of aesthetic worth. Peña’s work suggests place and emotion. In his work, Peña uses the literality and simplicity of a line created by the use of a straight-edge as well as exploring the variety of line that can be created by using a different color, width, repetition, or direction of line.
