Potent Forms

Tyrrell Tapaha uses creativity in weaving to explore new ideas, and reject old ones.

By Erin Joyce

For textile artist Tyrrell Tapaha (Diné), who uses they/them pronouns, weaving is not just a vocation or a way of being creative, it is a way of life. The artist—who lives between their homelands on the Diné Nation in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest and in off-reservation towns like Flagstaff, Arizona—situates their work in the complexity of lived experience, imagined futures and the rich history of their community. The artist’s sheep-to-loom methodology is not just process, but also part philosophical approach, taking the time to hold reverence for every facet of the production of a weaving, looking at the macro and the micro of the practice.

Tyrrell Tapaha (Diné). Photo by Eric Retterbrush. Courtesy the artist.

Tapaha focuses on amplifying and preserving Diné lifeways that have been passed down to them through their relatives and community. “[I focus on what] I’ve inherited by going this route,” Tapaha says. “I’m interested in the ecology, the hydrology and just the generalized land management that comes with [this] process.”

Tapaha’s holistic approach imbues a potency into the works themselves—transferring energy, history, memory and future into each textile that they weave on the loom. “I think it’s powerful to know that the thing that not only sustains me financially, emotionally and spiritually is the thing that also sustains the land in the same way, it sustains the sheep in the same way, and that is really powerful.” This work pushes Tapaha forward, but notes that, even though they are actively living this life and participating in these methodologies of production, they are far from an expert. “It’s super funny that everyone thinks that I’m a brainiac about this [stuff], but I literally know nothing,” they shared. “I’m just another 20-something-year-old kid who fell into a rabbit hole that I just so happened to really enjoy and it’s taking care of me, at least for right now, and that’s the evidence to show that it’s sustainable and that it can continue.”

Áshkii Gáamalii : The Boy Who Lives in Two Worlds, 2021, Diné-style tapestry, 88 percent handspun vegetal-dyed Navajo churro, 10 percent brown sheep co, 2 percent Navajo-raised Alpaca, 12¼ x 151/3”

Tyrrell Tapaha in their studio.

Beyond the way in which Tapaha works is the work itself. Deeply textured and dynamic textiles that unhinge colonial and imperial frameworks around textile production, in specificity to Diné weavers. In their 2021 work, Áshkii Gáamalii : The Bov Who Lives in Two Worlds, the artist scrawls the text “KKKolonization” across the top of the weaving, pointedly pushing the viewer to consider the sustained violence that the settler state has forced upon Indigenous peoples, and not just in governmental policies. Tapaha also speaks on the coloniality and violence ensconced within Diné weaving and the legacy of trading posts across the Southwest. “A lot of weaving and its history is based on the oppression of our people and us being able to flourish within those lines,” says Tapaha. “We [the public] idolize these trading posts, we talk about Hubbell as a heavy hitter for being a hot spot of weaving but that’s another example of modern-day slavery. Tapaha went on to share that most demonstrating weavers who worked with Hubbell and other trading posts were not paid living wages and did not receive benefits. “What does that say about the process and our history?” Tapaha says. “It is a bummer that we are celebrating these pretty designs but not understanding that all of that is based in slavery. I think that the minute and the day that we are willing to have comfortable conversations about this, you know that’s the day that we can understand Navajo weaving in a way we have not seen in the past.”

Carrizo Mountain Dance, 2021, Diné-style tapestry, commercial and handspun vegetal-dyed Navajo Churro yarn, 16 x 35”. Photo courtesy Dawson Peters.

2023 marks Tapaha’s second time showing at SWAIA’s Santa Fe Indian Market, and for the artist, the emotions and motivations around it are complicated. “It is a complicated relationship, showing at these institutions,” they share. “I do not ever expect my work to win a ribbon. I do not ever expect my work to be validated within the institutional lens.” Perhaps this is because the artist is doing work that presses itself up against what is ‘expected,’ and then actively thrusts that expectation away. “I do work that has not been seen before,” Tapaha says. “I am integrating techniques and textures that we do not see in the larger pool of winners, but I want to be there for representation.”

A representation that is true to the artist’s point of view and not swayed by market demands and trading post aesthetics. “I want to exist in a space because each one of my pieces is a living breathing individual,” Tapaha says. “I am not tailoring my weavings to sell or to profit. [This] keeps me stable and allows me to continue my work. I have thrown out that idea of ‘who’s watching’ and have started creating and have always been creating for myself.”

Living Love, 2021, Diné-style tapestry, handspun vegetal-dyed Navajo churro, New Zealand, Merino and Alpaca yarn, 15 × 33”

Think for Yourself, 2022, Diné-style tapestry, handspun and commercial vegetal-dyed Navajo churro/alpaca, 42 x 60”

Outside of the demands that a market can place atop an artist is the community aspect that exhilarates and nourishes Tapaha. “I love market, [but not] because I care about the institution,” the artist says. “I do not care about the market and I do not care about the board members and I do not care about the people who make it what it is.” Tapaha’s love for market manifests in his peers, his community and his culture being represented. “I care about the pool of artists, I care about the community, I care about seeing my friends who understand my work who, even if they do not understand it, they see its importance and they see its potency and it feels like home.”

Artists that Tapaha looks forward to seeing this year include fellow weaver Kevin Aspaas (Diné), who Tapaha greatly admires. “I am really excited to see what Kevin puts out. I admire him because he keeps his weaving life and his personal life really closed off—he doesn’t share or post his work in process [on social media], so I am really excited to see what he has this year.” Another artist Tapaha is looking forward to seeing is Diné potter Jared Tso. “I have been enamored with Jared’s process, progress and growth over the past few years—he has become a great friend,” Tapaha says. “He and his family have just been a beaming light in all of this. I rant about the lack of representation for our youth, for the continuance of these traditions and lifeways, and I think that Jared and his family do an exemplary job of showcasing that living and breathing that can be successful.”

A Bird’s Eye View, 2021, Diné-style tapestry, handspun and vegetal-dyed Navajo churro, 10 x 15¾”

Hózhó Náhásdlįį’×4 : Leaving the Colonial Mindscape, 2021, Tapestry on Diné-style loom, 100 percent hand-dyed Navajo churro, 15 x 39”

Beyond the SWAIA market, Tapaha was 2022 Brandford/Elliott Award for Excellence in Fiber Art Recipient from the Textile Society of America. The artist has work in several upcoming exhibitions, including a group show in fall 2023 at James Fuentes in New York curated by Zach Fueur, and a solo exhibition at The Valley in Taos, New Mexico, in January 2024. Clearly, Tapaha’s approach is working and is getting them noticed in a big way by the global contemporary art world.