Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara) recalls her grandfather incising designs on his clay pots with a nail. Today, she uses an X-Acto knife for the fine detail on her own work. Naranjo has recently finished her third collaboration with Tlingit glass artist Preston Singletary. The X-Acto knife played a key role. Once the artists had decided on the color and shape of the vessel, Naranjo used it to cut her designs into the vinyl resist that was applied to the glass. The areas she cut out were sandblasted by Singletary to reveal her design cut through the surface layer of color to reveal another color beneath. Singletary helped her adjust the way she held the knife to make the cuts more precise for sharp edges to be maintained during the sandblasting.
Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo) & Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Navajo Blanket, blown and sand-carved glass, 18 x 15”
The shapes of the vessels are the shapes she uses in her hand-coiled clay pieces but they literally take on a new dimension with the transparency of the glass and the layering of color. “It’s really exciting,” she admits. Her years of experience have given her the confidence to start right out cutting her design without first drawing it on the resist. One design is derived from a Navajo weaving hanging on the wall of her studio.
Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo) & Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Wavy River, blown and sand-carved glass, 14¾ x 6½”
The 15 pieces from the collaboration will be shown in the exhibition, A Collaboration in Glass III, at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, March 26 through April 17.
Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo) & Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Butterfly Dance (detail), blown and sand-carved glass
Naranjo is the eighth generation of distinguished clay artists at Santa Clara Pueblo. She began working with clay herself when she was 3 or 4 years old. In 2017 she was named a Museum of Indian Arts & Culture Living Treasure “in recognition of artistic excellence and community service.”
Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo) & Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Balance, blown and sand-carved glass
Singletary started working in glass in 1982 and eventually began to incorporate designs from his Tlingit heritage. Working with artists and young people from his own and other indigenous cultures, he has encouraged them to express their culture in glass. He says, “My work with glass transforms the notion that Native artists are only best when traditional materials are used. It has helped advocate on the behalf of all Indigenous people—affirming that we are still here—that that we are declaring who we are through our art in connection to our culture.”
Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo) & Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Kiva Steps, blown and sand-carved glass, 12 x 8½”
Naranjo comments that “Preston is a generous teacher to a lot of us artists. He brought glass into the Native art world. He teaches and shares the process. It’s pretty wonderful to have started an art form for native art—not only to come up with it but to share it.”
Blue Rain Gallery
March 26-April 17, 2021
544 S. Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
(505) 954-9902, www.blueraingallery.com
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