Napakanli um okla imma (Flowers for my family), contemporary bandolier bag Wool broad cloth, glass seed beads, brain tanned buckskin, brass bells, Czech glass seed beads, cotton lining

Chitto (Mississippi Choctaw, Laguna/Isleta Pueblos) reflects “on all of the family that has gone on before I got to talk to them and learn as much as I could. I wanted to honor them and the culture that they have passed down to me. This bag is a culmination of work that I should have learned from my Choctaw family. It is my way of bringing flowers for my family.” The stunning piece won three awards at the 2023 Cherokee Art Market in Catoosa, Oklahoma.

He started beading at 10 years old, studying photos of beadwork and learning by trial and error, asking himself, “What do I have to do to make it look like this?” Later, Laguna Pueblo beadwork artist Carol Gala taught him how to hold the needle properly and what kind of base to use.

Quilled Dance Bag, porcupine quills, glass seed beads, brass chain, brass thimbles, Czech glass beads, wool fabric, silk habotai lining, brain tanned Buffalo hide, chainette fringe

The color of glass beads first attracted him to the medium. “I was amazed at the color you can achieve in glass,” he explains. “Different finishes play with the light. Blue beads, for instance, can be opaque or transparent. I also remember seeing the texture of a finished piece of beadwork. It wasn’t bumpy but smooth like scales. I had to try to figure out how to get the beads flat and to lay evenly.”

Today his skill allows him to create with relative ease and to incorporate his own ideas into the traditional medium.

Chitto professes to not being able to draw so he draws a simple outline of the shapes he wants to use. “Everything else is improvised as I go along. That keeps it fresh for me. Each element informs the next and the next. The process is so repetitive that I can zone out. I don’t have to think, but I have to be present. If my mind wanders, the threads get tangled.”

Artist study #1: Calder, small flat bag, glass seed beads, raw silk, silk habotai, Czech glass beads, Chinese crystal, antique sequins

When he began working on a small flat bag in which he wanted to use bold blocks of color, “it became clear to me that I was inspired by Alexander Calder’s mobiles” which had primary colors and were usually shown in an all-white room. Artist study #1: Calder, which will also be shown at the Heard, is the first of a projected series of pieces inspired by other works of art. The white background of the abstracted design is made up of circles and lines of beds that follow the contour of the colored forms. His frequent use of circles is a reminder that “there are spirits around us that we can’t see,” he explains.

Chata Anumpa in my accent, contemporary bandolier bag, glass seed beads, wool fabric, silk lining, brass bells, brass sequins, Handmade glass beads, Chinese crystal, brass beads

In a statement for his 2022 Ron and Susan Dubin Fellowship at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, he wrote, “My role as a Two-Spirit is traditionally to bring in spiritual teachings to the physical world; I see the act of bringing beauty into the world as a spiritual act. For me that is my life’s purpose—to bring beauty into the world. Whenever I finish a piece, I take time to appreciate the feeling of creating something that has not yet been seen. In my view, the act of creating my artwork is a gift that I do not take for granted.”

Bloodwork No. 2, glass seed beads, silk habotai, silk dupioni, Czech glass beads, lapis beads, Swarovski Crystal

He describes being Two-Spirit as more than being queer, having a role in the community as Two-Spirit individuals have for generations. “I grew up hoping to provide,” he says. “If my brother or my dad needed an Indian shirt or my mom needed an Indian dress, I made them. I try to provide what they want or need to better perform the spiritual aspect of themselves. I want to give back.”

Chitto will be showing his work in Booth B-46. 

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