Ramona Sakiestewa

BIO/CV

b. Albuquerque, NM

Education
  • 1968

    School of Visual Arts, New York NY


Select Commissions
    • Kenneth Noland Tapestry Series: A series of Noland designs commissioned by Gloria Ross Tapestries, New York, NY
    • Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, AZ: A series of thirteen tapestries from the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright
    • Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York, NY: A tapestry of painter Paul Brach’s work
    • Neutrogena Corporation, Los Angeles, CA: A series of tapestries for corporate offices worldwide
    • Mobil Corporation, Dallas, TX
    • Sundance, Provo, UT: A series of tapestries
    • Avalon Trust, Santa Fe, NM: a series of tapestries
    • Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Select Projects
  • 2013-

    Line of homeware products and accessories.

  • 2017-18

    American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, Oklahoma City, OK.
    Design and cultural values consultant to Andrew Merriell & Associates/
    Johnson Fain architects.

  • 2008-11

    Kurdistan Regional Government Statistics Office, Erbil, Iraq: Designed cultural theming, consultant to Bayberry International, Easton, MD. Designed architectural elements for the building based on Kurdish art and culture.

  • 2006-07

    Gila River Health Care Corporation, Tucson, Arizona: Designed flooring and other architectural elements for the new hospital building based on tribal cultural values. Johnson, Smitthipong and Rosamond Architects, Tucson, AZ.

  • 2005–07

    National Indian Monument and Institute, Tulsa, Oklahoma: Designed outdoor ceremonial installations based on cultural histories and tribal practices with the planning team of  Andrew Merriell & Associates, Interpretive Planning & Design, Santa Fe, NM, and Johnson, Smitthipong and Rosamond Architects, Tucson, AZ.

  • 2005–07

    Marriott Residence Inn, Sacramento, CA: Design consultant to developer (Christopher Corporation, Three Fires, and Marriott Hotels) and interior designer (Johnson Braund Design Group) for design themes and artwork for planned business hotel.

  • 2002–07

    Tempe Center for the Performing Arts, Tempe, Arizona: Public Art project; one of three artists designing artwork integrated with the building. Designed 7800 sq.ft. of custom carpet for the center. Barton Myers, Architect, Los Angeles, CA.

  • 2002–05

    Marriott Residence Inn, Washington, DC: Design consultant to developer (Donohoe Corporation) and interior designer (BBGM) for design themes and artwork for planned business hotel.

  • 2002

    American West Heritage Center, Wellsville, Utah: Member of the core master planning team for a new museum and cultural center for the Northwest Band of Shoshone Indians. With Hilferty & Associates, Interpretive Planners, Athens, OH and Jensen Haslem, Architects, Wellsville,UT

  • 2002–04

    Chickasaw Cultural Center, Sulphur, Oklahoma: Member of the core master planning team for a new cultural center for the Chickasaw Nation. With Andrew Merriell & Associates, Interpretive Planning& Design, Santa Fe, NM and Overland Partners, Architects, San Antonio, TX.

  • 1994–98

    Sakiestewa Textiles, Ltd: Designed and issued the “Ancient Blanket Series,” six limited edition blankets (under private label with Scalamandre, NY) Santa Fe, NM.

  • 1993–04

    National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC: Member of the Architectural Design Team for the National Mall Museum building with architects GBQC, Philadelphia, PA; Polshek & Associates, NY; SmithGroup, Washington, DC; Jones and Jones, Seattle, WA; landscape architect EDAW, Washington, DC

    Created for the master plan a design vocabulary representing 500 tribes for use by the Architectural Design Team, exhibit design team and interior designers. Designed the “Entry Plaza Birthdate,”  Potomac Solstice and Equinox markers, “Copper Screen Wall,” elevator cabs, Ceremonial Front Doors and pulls, theater curtain and other architectural elements.

  • 1990–96

    Dewey Trading Co.: Design of the “Southwest Trails Series,” six limited edition blankets manufactured by Pendleton Woolen Mills, Portland, OR. Currently issued in open editions.

  • 1987-92

    Smithsonian Institution Mail Order Catalog: Several scarves, shawl, tie, and apparel fabric.


Select Solo Exhibitions
  • 2017

    Light Echoes, Tai Modern, Santa Fe, NM

  • 2016

    Ramona Sakiestewa: Highlighting Print Work–Tangram Butterflies and Katsinas,
    Del Norte Credit Union, Santa Fe, NM

  • 2014

    Tangram Butterfly and Other Shapes, Tai Modern, Santa Fe, NM

  • 2008

    Vortex of Color, 8 Modern, Santa Fe, NM

  • 2006

    Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Hudson, NY

  • 2002

    Cultural Colors:Fiber Art & Drawings, Heard Museum North, Carefree, AZ

  • 1997

    Ramona Sakiestewa/Recent Acquisitions, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ

  • 1995

    Patterns of the Southwest, Tapestries by Ramona Sakiestewa, The Perspective Series, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI

  • 1993

    Between the Four Sacred Mountains: Contemporary Weavings of Ramona Sakiestewa, Museum of the Southwest, Pasadena, CA

  • 1991

    Ramona Sakiestewa/Frank Lloyd Wright, Themes and Variations,
    The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ. Tapestries by Ramona Sakiestewa Ltd.,
    for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, AZ

  • 1989

    Ramona Sakiestewa/Patterned Dreams, Wheelwright Museum of the
    American Indian, Santa Fe, NM


Select Group Exhibitions
  • 2019

    The Western Sublime: Majestic Landscapes of the American West, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ

  • 2019-20

    Hearts of our People,: Native Women Artists, Minneapolis Museum of Art; Frist Museum, Nashville, TN; Renwick Museum, Washington DC; Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK

  • 2018-19

    Seeing America: Native Artists of North America, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ

  • 2017

    Horizons: People & Place in New Mexico in 20th Century Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
    Native American Gallery, Blanton Museum, Austin, TX

  • 2016

    Common Ground: Art in New Mexico, Albuquerque Museum Permanent Collection Installation, Albuquerque, NM
    Fiber Gallery, Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC

  • 2013

    Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico–Architecture, Katsinam and the Land, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, and Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM
    Accompanying catalogue: Barbara Buhler Lynes and Carolyn Kastner, “Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico – Architecture, Katsinam and the Land.” Museum of New Mexico Press, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM. Essay contribution: Ramona Sakiestewa, Katsinam: Memories and Reflections,” p.127-129, 2013

  • 2012

    Shapeshifting-Transformations in Native American Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
    Accompanying catalogue: Karen Kramer Russell, “Shapeshifting – Transformations in Native American Art,” Yale University Press, p. 36, 58-59, 2012

  • 2007

    East Meets West, 8 Modern, Santa Fe, NM
    Nebula: The Reflection Series, LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM 2006
    Breaking the Mold, opening exhibition, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

  • 2004

    NDN Art, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
    Accompanying catalogue: Suzanne Deats and Charlene Touchette, “NDN ART, Contemporary Native American Art,” Fresco Fine Art Publications, LLC, Albuquerque, NM, p. 80-85, 2004

  • 2002

    Changing Hands, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
    Accompanying catalogue: David Revere McFadden, Ellen Napiura Taubman, and Holly Hotchner, “Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, Contemporary Native American Art from the Southwest,“  Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. p. 94, 2002

  • 1997–98

    Colors, Contrasts, Cultures, Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, CT
    O’Keeffe’s New Mexico, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
    Native Abstractions: Modern Forms, Ancient Ideas, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, NM

  • 1996–97

    Native American Traditions/Contemporary Responses, Society for Contemporary Crafts, Pittsburgh, PA

  • 1995

    Celebrating Helen Heninger, Curator for Gump’s Contemporary Art Gallery, Gump’s Department Store, San Francisco, CA

  • 1994–98

    Native America: Reflecting Contemporary Realities, traveling exhibition, American Indian Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA

  • 1994

    Homeland Use and Desire, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA

  • 1992

    Colorado University Art Gallery, Boulder, CO

  • 1992–

    American Encounters 1992, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC


Select Collections

  • Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies, Washington, DC (work placed in American Embassy in Uganda)
    The Mint Museum of Craft & Design, Charlotte, NC
    The Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
    The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
    The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
    Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    The Clay Center, Charleston, WV
    Museum of Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM
    The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, NM
    St. Louis Museum of Art, St. Louis, MO
    National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
    The Kennedy Museum of American Art, Athens, OH
    Mobil Corporations, Dallas, TX
    Neutrogena Collection, Los Angeles, CA
    Sundance Collection, Provo, UT
    University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA
    University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM


ARTIST STATEMENT

I was born in the American Southwest. At an early age, I knew I would be an artist. Having had a somewhat harried childhood, I did art making as a way to create order out of uncertainty.

My professional art career began in tapestry weaving. That art form allowed for the blending of shapes and layering of colors. Early work was graphic in design. That eventually evolved into abstract and painterly weavings.

Off and on for 20 years, I did printmaking as well. Five years ago, I began to focus on what I call “constructions” Making them involves deconstructing the earlier prints and then painting and drawing on additional pieces of fabrics and papers. I can then manipulate the complex palette of images, patterns, and surfaces. With the diversity of materials, one can continue to blend shapes and layer color but in dimensional constructions.

Themes that continue to thread through my artwork are puzzle pieces, astronomical configurations, and divination. Recently, I have reached back to my childhood to retrieve an early design vocabulary lexicon. These can be seen in new work called “and Other Shapes.”