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Cliff Fragua
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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Jemez Pueblo
MEDIUM: Sculpture
ARTIST STATEMENT
I have learned the secret of the stone through my cultural and ancestral teachings. Based in Native American themes, my work shows pride for the Pueblo culture and a deep understanding of the inherent spirituality of the stone. I have chosen stone as my medium of expression because it is a combination of the basic elements of the earth. I feel the honesty and purity of this most basic of material permits me to express myself from the heart and to express the spirit that Native people respect an revere as embodied in the stone.
Since 1974, when I created my first stone sculpture, I have created a significant body of work that keeps evolving with new influences and new interests. My sculptures are featured in such public locations as the National Statuary Hall in the Nation's CapitolAlbuquerque International Airport and in permanent collections throughout the country. I have been included in major invitational exhibitions and one-man shows in leading museums and galleries and has earned highest honors and awards for his sculptures.
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Jimmy Yawakia
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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Zuni
MEDIUM: Sculpture
BIOGRAPHY
As a child at Zuni Pueblo, Jimmy Yawakia started carving using whatever materials he could find. He learned to carve from his stepfather and brother and first started by carving serpents from cottonwood roots. He next carved from antler and then moved on to turquoise and coral. Jimmy learned well and by 1990, one of Jimmy’s fetish carvings was featured in the publication The Fetish Carvers of Zuni by Rodee and Ostler. As a young man, he spent many years working as an Emergency Medical Technician, but eventually decided to quit his job due to the emotional stress of the profession. He often recalls that when he stopped working as an EMT and started carving full-time he soon found working in stone became extremely healing for him and he knew he was hooked. Jimmy says that his fetishes are “his children” and speaks quite specifically about the meaning of each fetish he has carved. He thinks deeply about the stone and its meaning and through a spiritual synergy with his materials, which often involves praying with the material, he creates a carving which evokes the spiritual essence of the animal.
