Sculptor Star Liana York is thrilled and honored that Medicine Man Gallery is hosting the first major retrospective of her work that will include 50 years’ worth of art. She has only one regret: York has already started another new and novel series that won’t be ready in time to be included in the show, which opens this month in Tucson. But, as evidenced in the nearly 50 pieces that are in the exhibition, York, whose creative impulse is fueled by an inexhaustible curiosity, likely has many more series ahead.
Rock Art Mares: A Legacy for All Humankind (set of 4: Alert, Stretch, Roll and Itch), 3 in. (larger sizes measure 14 to 56 inches)
Featured in the exhibition are York’s figurative pieces of Native peoples and ranchers, Western wildlife and quarter horses, animal spirit totems, vessels she calls “dream urns,” and a large selection of works inspired by various forms of rock art, including Southwestern petroglyphs, pictographs and ancient cave paintings. Her bronzes range in size from a few inches to life-size and larger.
Taken together, the body of work provides a map of the artist’s interests throughout her life and career, and a picture of how completely York immerses herself in whatever subject captivates her at any given time.
Big Medicine, bronze, ed. of 50, 15½ x 25 x 14 in.
Although York had been sculpting for many years before, much of the recognition she has received is for work created after moving to New Mexico in 1985. “When I first moved to the Southwest, I was so enamored with the cultures here, the pueblos and the Navajo, and getting to know those people and the amazing colorful ways they live,” she says. Attending ceremonies and visiting the homes of weavers led to works like the monumental sculpture Ganado Red, pictured in the photograph of the artist working on the piece in late 1990s. “We visited that woman in her hogan,” says York. “She pulled a rug off her loom and was spreading it out for us to see.” York went on to create a whole series of Native American women, which extended into another area of interest—ranching culture—and another series.
“I do believe that’s what powers the creation of art and artistic expression—when you find something that fascinates you and piques your interest, and turn that into an expression that you can share with other people,” continues York. “It is self-expression, but it can also tap into the collective consciousness. It’s not that people can necessarily put into words why they appreciate it but it resonates with them on some level. It can also give the artist a deeper understanding of themselves.”
Star Liana York with clay Legacy. Photo by Shawn Hamilton.
In the faces of one of her Native American women, and in one of a rancher, York was startled to find her mother and father looking back at her when they were complete.
She waited a few years before sculpting the Navajo woman that oversaw one of the tribe’s coming of age Kinaaldá ceremonies she attended. She didn’t have a photo for reference but York still had a strong sense of the woman’s presence. “It wasn’t something I consciously realized until I finished the piece, that the face of that woman, the being of that woman, was my mother. She didn’t look anything like her but what I recognized in her so deeply was that she had the same personality.” It was the same with a rancher, posed over a campfire in inclement weather. “You look at his face and there’s a little bit of a smile, and a sense of contentment in what he did—that was my father,” she says. “He believed in his work. He loved what he did. I’ve seen a lot of that in these ranchers. It’s a hard life, but it’s what has made them what they are, and it’s a choice that they’re happy with.”
Cat Call (monumental), bronze, ed. of 25, 20¾ x 65 x 24 in.
Her rock art-inspired works grew out of a desire to give the two-dimensional drawings three-dimensional form. It was her way to imagine and give life to what the ancient people might have seen in reality before creating them.
Some of her works, like the grouping of four pieces that comprise Rock Art Mares: A Legacy for all Humankind,reflect an intermingling of her interest in historic rock art and raising her own quarter horses. “That’s how it started,” she says. “In the designs that you see painted on cave walls, it’s very clear that it’s herds of pregnant mares. It fit with what I was seeing in my own pastures. Going from the very detailed work of the Indian women and ranchers to this simplified stylized approach, was a great new avenue for me to explore.”
Bobkit Trio, bronze, ed. of 50, 11 x 13 x 16 in.
Individually titled Alert, Stretch, Roll and Itch, and available in a variety of sizes, the set invites interaction. “You can have these little personalities relate to each other in different ways depending on how you place them,” she explains. “I liked that idea. [When my] mares were in foal…they were chubby and enjoying life so they wound up being playful.”
While we have the opportunity to appreciate the amazing pieces York has created over the course of the last five decades, we also have more exciting work to look forward to. Spoiler alert: tattooed horses rooted in her decades-long research into tattoo culture in Asia, America and among the Māori people of New Zealand.
Star Liana York working on Ganado Red (monumental) ca. 1998, bronze, ed. of 15, 86 x 46 x 36 in.
“This new direction won’t be a part of my retrospective but I just don’t feel done yet,” says York. “I know right now I have more to do and I’m in my mid-70s. Will that ever end? I sure hope not.”
Star Liana York: 50 Year Retrospective opens on October 24 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition remains on view through January 15, 2026. —
Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery 6872 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 130 » Tucson, AZ 85750 (520) 722-7798 » www.medicinemangallery.com
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