For the third consecutive year, creative forces united at IM: EDGE Press and Influencer Preview, which was sponsored by JoAnn and Bob Balzer. The evening marked a successful kick-off to Native America’s largest and oldest art gathering. SWAIA’s 96th Indian Market is officially underway! Long-time supporters of Indian art, sponsors, collectors, and members of the press were in attendance as models showcased the work of designer Orlando Dugi (Diné) to the DJ’s techno-based beats. A remarkably diverse selection of innovative artwork, including sculpture, photography, fabric arts, and paintings in various media, compose this year’s exhibit, which includes works by Frank…
Author: RoseMary Diaz
When it comes to high-end Native fashion, Indian Market marks the spot and begin with the Edge sneak preview. For both designers and style-savvy buyers, respectively, Edge teased the audience with the latest Native fashions and promised more to come. Saturday, the Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter show opened to an eager crowd, jostling for a view, at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Then on Sunday, the Native American Clothing Contest showcased adult and children’s regalia on the main stage at the Santa Fe Plaza. From the adrenaline-inducing opening dance act to the last model to float down the catwalk, the audience was completely invested in…
Amidst the sea of countless treasures to be admired at Santa Fe Indian Market, there are always a few that linger fresh on the shore of the mind’s eye long after the visual encounter has been poured into the sands of memory. One such work is a Miloshka Spirit Doll by Eric Sekatau (Narragansett). The figure’s lifelike eyes seemed to take in the Edge preview with the rest of us. Cast in bisque, the doll’s face and hands are flawlessly smooth and rendered in realistic (as in believable) features and tones, entirely devoid of caricature and sentimentality. Complete with elk-bone choker,…
Perhaps the most important two-and-a-half hours of the entire Santa Fe Indian Market weekend, from the artist’s end of the gallery anyway, is measured out at the annual Awards Ceremony and Luncheon. This is the where and when so much comes down to the head of the pin: the artist’s unwavering commitment to his or her respective genre; the countless hours of work invested; the creative vision realized; the tests of skill mastered, recognized and rewarded. All that midnight oil distilled down to a single drop so powerful it can illuminate the entirety of a career. With literally hundreds of…
Just a few hours into the 95th Indian Market, I already felt the energizing effects of being in the presence of art and artists, both of which surrounded me at the Edge preview and reception and IM Kickoff Party. As guests mingled over signature cocktails and lively conversation, models lit up the runway in original creations by some of Native America’s most noted designers, including Patricia Michaels (Taos Pueblo), Orlando Dugi (Navajo), mother and daughter team Maya Stewart and Jimmie Carole Fife (Muscogee-Chickasaw-Choctaw), and Decontie & Brown (Penobscot), whose contemporary interpretations of yesteryear’s tribal attire are nothing short of living narrative. “Each…