Untitled Abstract Image with Mask and Yucca by Michelle Tsosie Naranjo [SOLD]

This mixed media creation was made by Diné artist Michelle Tsosie Naranjo.  It is a bright and vibrant image that blends Native symbology with colorful abstraction.  A large mask occupies a portion of the right side of the image.  Just to the left, near the center of the image, a yucca plant emerges from one corner of a triangular form.  Elsewhere, we notice kiva steps and lightning symbols hidden within swirling abstract patterns.

Though it’s placed off to the side, the mask becomes the focal point of the image, as much of the abstract work seems to either emerge from or move toward it.  A series of triangular forms seems to point down toward the mask, while inverted lightning bolts strike it from below.  Two groups of colored lines move diagonally across the image, forming rainbows made of colors one would never see in an actual rainbow.  There’s a lot of movement and energy here, and quite a few interesting textures for the viewer who chooses to give the piece a close look.  There is a lot going on here, and it all comes together quite nicely.

The painting is signed Michelle Tsosie Naranjo in the lower right. The paper is mounted with its edges exposed, under glass, within a thin wood frame.

Michelle Tsosie Naranjo (1959- ) is a Diné artist who was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She married a man from Santa Clara Pueblo (hence the name Naranjo, which will be familiar to Santa Clara pottery collectors) and is influenced in part by the artworks of that region.  Her works are included in the permanent collection of the Heard Museum, and she is featured in Patricia Broder's Earth Songs, Moon Dreams: Paintings by American Indian Women.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Untitled Abstract Image with Mask and Yucca by Michelle Tsosie Naranjo is from the large collection of an Albuquerque family

Recommended Reading: Earth Songs, Moon Dreams: Paintings by American Indian Women, by Patricia Broder