Month: December 2014

This weeks Collaboration Artist – Meet Jamison Chas Banks

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Jamison Chas Banks

Jamison Chas Banks

Chas’s work distinguishes itself from most of his peers through the fact that he thinks completely outside of the box. He tackles mostly political issues through his ability to tie historical events back to current issues and displays them as installations, paintings and print works in a fashion that requires the viewer to ask questions to reveal the deeper meaning behind them. His art is universal and timeless and not confined to native art venus.  He is one of those artists that you can 100% rely on if he commits to a project, and you know that you will be blown away, when you receive his submission. Therefore it is no surprise that I am already holding his interpretation of the design he picked in my hands.

Design by Damian Jim

“Deco 5”  by Damian Jim

Chas turned an art deco inspired Navajo basket design into a piece that tackles the issue of cultural mis-appropriation utilizing and critiquing logos of companies associated with this behavior. Curiously I followed up with the imagery and came across this design related article that beautifully fits into this blog as we are not only about baskets but also about excellence in design.

Growing up in Germany in the 70ies and 80ies, the only sport wear manufacturer that stood out was Adidas and ever since then they are my brand of choice. Here I am decades later, googling how their signature trifold logo was created after seeing it being integrated into Chas Banks piece. Come to find out that the name of the company owner was Adolf “Adi” Dassler which explains the company’s name (Duh, Katja!) and that the three leaves stand for the continents Europe, Africa and America. I feel like an old dog that just learned new tricks 😉 If you are interested to learn more about one of the development of one of the most successful brand logos in this world, here is a great blogpost :http://www.creativebloq.com/logo-design/how-adidas-logo-earned-its-stripes-11135390

Are you curious about the piece Chas created? It will be on display at the Byting Willows exhibit at 1Spot Gallery in Phoenix from 2/20-4/17/2015.

If you can’t wait until then to familiarize yourself with Chas’s art, I strongly recommend you take a look at his blog (http://chasbanks.blogspot.com)!

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Get To Know The Collaboration Artists – Carol Chiago Lujan

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Carol Chiago Lujan

Carol Chiago Lujan

With this new series we want to introduce to you one by one to the master artists that will be part of the upcoming Byting Willows Exhibit.

Today: Carol Chiago Lujan (Dine’)

Flashback to August this year, when we visited Santa Fe Indian Market and IFAM with a binder full of basket and rug designs, scouting for master artists that worked in various media, to ask them to collaborate for the upcoming Byting Willows show. In preparation we had brainstormed a wish list of artists to approach.

Passing by the booth of Carol Chiago Lujan who displayed masks and glass objects, some of which looked like “glass rugs”, I stopped and knew, we had found somebody exceptional that would be perfectly suited to turn a rug design into a glass object.
The question remained how to approach her, as neither of us was previously acquainted with her. Carol made the conversation that followed incredibly easy and comfortable, as she was immediately interested in the project and committed to pick a design and bring it to life in glass.
For those of you that don’t know Carols work yet, here is a bit of background: Carol is a clay and glass artists and comes from a long history of Navajo weavers from the Big Water clan. Therefore art and the creative process have always been an important part of her heritage. Her sculpted clay horses and masks are inspired by her Navajo heritage.  The clay masks are usually colorfully painted with acrylics and/or glazed and embellished with parrot feathers.  Her recent work includes fused glass art.  Her glass art incorporates traditional designs into fused glass art pieces including masks, bowls and platters. In addition to her art interests, Carol has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of New Mexico.  She is professor emeritus at Arizona State University (ASU) and is pursuing her art interests full-time working in both New Mexico and Arizona.

Carol enjoys the creative process and continues to expand her knowledge about clay sculpting and glass fusing while incorporating tradition and culture into her pieces. Her inspiration continues to be founded on the beauty, strength, endurance, humor and sovereignty of American Indian nations and peoples.

If you are as anxious to see what Carol created for the Byting Willows exhibit as we are, then visit 1Spot Gallery in Phoenix between February 20th – April 17th 2015 and find out.