ARTIST STATEMENT
“Elegy for a Gardner” is a memorial piece inspired by the death of my sister, who was a gardner all her life. The tape measure represents the finiteness of life, which is not marked with numbers because we do not know when a life will end. The broken basket (lower right) releases her ashes into the universe. The dice represent uncertainty: we do not know if what we plant will bear fruit and thrive. The seed packets represent seeds as a form of reincarnation. Again, the identification is by petroglyph symbols rather than genus, species or other forms of seed naming.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Harriette Tsosie is a full time painter living and working in Albuquerque’s South Valley. She studied acrylic painting with Jules Kirschenbaum at Drake University; encaustic with New Mexico maters Paula Roland and Ellen Koment; and cold wax with Pamela Caughey in her “Powerful Design/Personal Color” online course. Tsosie founded New Mexico Wax, later merging it with the Encaustic Art Institute and becoming the Institute’s first president. Her main subject matter is identity, which she sees as formed primarily by genetics, place and language. The language paintings connect her academic studies of Latin, French and Spanish with her love of extinct languages and Asian calligraphic characters. She incorporates text and symbols in her work to lend an air of mystery to her subject matter. Tsosie works in layers, which she believes give her work psychological depth. She says: “My thought and work have been heavily influenced by my husband, Carl A. Tsosie, Jr. (Diné/Pueblo) and our years living at his pueblo (Picuris). Tsosie’s work is included in both public and private art collections. She and her husband collaborate growing gourds in their Albuquerque garden and creating ceremonial gourd rattles inspired by his gourd dancing. They have self published three books, including “Gourd Rattles,” which won first place in the crafts category of the 2023 Arizona/New Mexico Book Awards competition.
© Harriette Tsosie