Roseta Santiago moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2000, trading the 60-foot boom lift she used for painting murals for Bass Pro Shops for an easel in the studio she built in her garage.
Inspired by the rich history of Northern New Mexico and surrounded by newly acquired Pueblo pottery and other Native American artifacts, she set to work. “I began teaching myself to paint in oils,” she says, “beginning with the simple shapes of pots in dramatic lighting. I moved on to painting the figure—the biggest challenge I ever had.”
The Silversmith’s Daughter, oil, 16 x 12”
The exhibition, Journey, at King Galleries in Santa Fe, follows her development as a fine artist and highlights her reverence for Native artifacts and their makers.
Among the 12 paintings is Silversmith’s Daughter, featuring a Navajo woman wearing clothing she has made, as well silver and turquoise jewelry. She is backed by a halo. From the time of acquiring her first pottery, Santiago has felt the presence of the maker in every piece—a connection to the past and a continuing inspiration. “Everybody that puts good into the world should have a halo,” she says. “When I put a halo on a figure, I’m pointing out people I believe should be celebrated as creators.”
Blessings, oil, 30 x 30"
As her confidence and skill as a painter has grown, Santiago has ventured into mystical subjects and even into abstraction. “In the abstract paintings,” she says, “I want to portray my emotions without them being spelled out literally in the painting.”
Water Blessing is a mystical painting in a series of journey paintings, each of which features a medicine man or storyteller carrying feathers or a ceremonial rattle. Santiago had a studio at Nambé Pueblo for a time and studied ancient pottery that had been brought up from the bottom of Nambé Lake. Water Blessing depicts three women emerging from the water wearing traditional mantas and bearing water jars on their heads, bringing the life-giving element as well as stories of the people’s history.
Water Blessings, oil, 72 x 48"
Her painting Blessings includes multiple sacred objects from different tribes. A Hopi Crow Mother katsina represents maternal leadership within a tribe, especially in the education of children. Spanning the composition is a Hopi wedding sash. Hopi men weave the bride’s robe and sash. The large knots represent rain clouds and the fringe represents the falling rain. The sash is presented to the bride with ears of corn which, from its ground-up kernels to its pollen, is used in blessings and offerings. Also in the composition are a gourd rattle, a San Ildefonso pot by Maria Martinez, a drawing by Maynard Dixon and a woven basket.
Journey will run from August 6 to 14. The show is a testament to Santiago’s commitment to her own growth as an artist and to her honoring historic and contemporary Native American people and their art. —
Upcoming Show
Up to 12 works
August 6-14, 2021
King Galleries
130 Lincoln Avenue D, Santa Fe, NM 87501,
(480) 440-3912, www.kinggalleries.com
Powered by Froala Editor
