‘Erased’ by Harriette Tsosie. Courtesy photo

‘Hoop Dance’ by Harriette Tsosie. Courtesy photo

STEP UP GALLERY News:

Step Up Gallery at Mesa Public Library announces its new and dynamic exhibit: Chasing Identity: the Retrospective Work of Harriette Tsosie, which runs May 4-30.

Chasing Identity explores the roles of genetics, language and place in shaping who we are. The works in this exhibition were created during decades of the artist’s intense curiosity about ourselves as humans, as a people, or tribe, at a time when – because of DNA testing and the rise of internet ancestry programs – it became possible to actually know where we came from and who we are related to.

A retrospective exhibition for Tsosie, Chasing Identity covers the last 20 years of her work. After moving to New Mexico in 1995, Tsosie became keenly aware of language as the embodiment of culture. She married a Native American man and moved to his pueblo, where “place” came to her attention as an important determinant of identity for indigenous peoples. She learned how Native languages are endangered because they are not written, gaining appreciation for her own language and for cursive writing.

Discovering her paternal grandmother’s diaries and grandparents’ love letters inspired Tsosie to explore her own genetic heritage. Using material from these family documents, she mounted “I have a question and there’s no one left to answer it,” a solo exhibition in the Harwood Art Center’s small gallery in Albuquerque. She and several other artists submitted DNA samples to National Geographic’s Genographic project, an early testing program. Drawing on the results, they created “Mining the Unconscious,” a major project encompassing three exhibitions and more than 20 community programs in Santa Fe. The project followed publication of Jung’s Redbook — embargoed for years after his death—and explored how the unconscious influences creativity. A documentary about their work by the same title won several awards.

Opening Thursday, Chasing Identity will show both 2-D and 3-D work that references the universal search for identity and Tsosie’s individual one.  Included in the show are: acrylic paintings on both canvas and panel; cold wax medium and oil paintings on panel; encaustic paintings on panel; three 12 foot high pigment ink scrolls on Tyvek; acrylic paintings on Tyvek; and 10 ceremonial gourd rattles created collaboratively with her husband, Carl A. “Cat” Tsosie. Cat grows, dries and prepares the rattles. Both create the designs and Harriette paints them.

Tsosie and Cat live and work in Albuquerque’s South Valley. In addition to their life in Albuquerque, they maintain strong bonds with Cat’s pueblo, Picuris, where they lived for many years.

To purchase art from Chasing go to https://stepupgallerymarket.artspan.com/home. For more information about Step Up Gallery, visit https://stepupgallery.org

Step Up Gallery is on the top level of Mesa Public Library, 2400 Central Ave. Its hours are: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and closed Sundays.

‘Pollen Men’ by Harriette Tsosie. Courtesy photo

‘Blue Basket’ by Harriette Tsosie. Courtesy photo