4 | Artes
Tina Larkin
Artist John Suazo steps back to examine his work.
Master sculptor John Suazo CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF ART
honor roll three times.” “It will be quite a sight,” Suazo said. Though he didn’t pursue a career in education, Suazo is still He also carves ancient villages that have been abandoned interested in teaching and preserving his ancestral culture. for centuries. aos Pueblo sculptor John Suazo has received “I welcome those who want to come to my studio and multiple awards and distinctions. His “I use my intuition and add ghost dancers and other watch me work,” he said. “I have gone to many schools sculpture “Waiting for Grandfather” was figures from the past,” he said. and talked to the students about the art business and the installed at the University of Arizona in Giving voice to stones importance of creativity.” Tucson in 2013. His work is in numerous For his outdoor pieces, Suazo uses limestone from museums and galleries throughout the The Rockefeller connection country and has also been exhibited in Russia and France. Colorado, Texas and Kansas. For the indoor ones he prefers Suazo’s great-grandfather, Rafael Gomez, was Taos Pueblo gray, pink and white alabaster from Colorado and orange war chief in 1924 when John D. Rockefeller and his three Art runs in the family alabaster from Utah. sons came to visit the Pueblo during the summer. Gomez and Suazo’s grandfather, Jim Suazo, inspired the novel “The He likes to make knives and swords. The blades are carved other Pueblo men took them to the mountains and they all Man Who Killed the Deer” by Frank Waters. But this isn’t out of Moroccan selenite, a translucent stone that is supposed had a picnic. the only book about the Suazo family. “Pueblo Boy,” a to have healing properties. children’s book by Sylvia Starr and Joseph B. Wertz published “They also sang some Indian songs for them,” said Suazo. in 1938, contains pictures of Suazo’s mother and grandparents “When Rockefeller went back to New York, he wrote a “As a kid, I collected the knives that my father and uncles and details of their everyday lives in the Pueblo. would give me,” he said. “That went along with being a thank-you letter to my great-grandfather and sent him a man. Now they are used mostly for decoration. I have fun turquoise ring and a silk handkerchief in appreciation for “All this is part of my history,” Suazo says. “And what experimenting with them, but I prefer to focus on larger the wonderful time they had had. About five years ago, his motivates me to do my art.” grandson David Rockefeller came to visit Taos and I showed pieces.” Suazo went to college expecting to become a teacher. He him the letter. He ended up buying a mountain lion that I had excelled in sports and considered being a coach. One of his larger sculptures is called “Eagle Shield” and had just carved.” weighs close to 300 pounds. Another, “She Walks Elegantly,” “But I kept changing majors,” he said. “I really didn’t know represents a Navajo woman with her hair done up in a classic what I wanted to do until one day, during my fourth year of Sources of inspiration Navajo bun. college, when I came home on a Christmas break and started Suazo’s inspiration comes from his ancestors’ history, carving. Right then, I knew I had found my true calling. My his personal experiences and surroundings, and his three “It took me about four days and 40 years to make it,” uncle Ralph encouraged me to follow that path. ” grandchildren. Suazo said. “Forty years to learn how to complete it in four His uncle Ralph Suazo was also a sculptor who had “I see the smiles on their faces and they never fail to inspire days.” promoted the Native American art movement in Taos in the me,” he said. “I love to reveal through my sculptures this He never draws or plans his work in advance. ’50s and ’60s. feeling of security, peace and happiness that my grandkids “The stone talks to me,” he said. “And then we work radiate.” “Our whole family is artistic,” said Suazo. “Around the together creating a story that fits it.” same time I began carving, first in wood and then in stone, Though Suazo has done many traditional pieces, today he “She Walks Elegantly” is a sheepherder who lived in the my mother, Juanita DuBray, started to do clay figures too.” tends to use a more abstract and experimental approach in his 1800s and is proud of her life and herself. art. In 1985, DuBray was invited to do a show at the “The beauty of life makes her walk gracefully,” Suazo said. Smithsonian Museum. She has also exhibited at the Heard “I am giving it a more modern feeling,” he said. “I even Museum in Phoenix, the Museum of New Mexico, the carve aliens now. There is something attractive and mysterious “I reflected that on the sculpture. When you see my pieces, I want you to think of a particular time and place, and how life Wheelwright Museum, and the Institute of American Indian about aliens; most people love them.” was back then.” Art in Santa Fe. Suazo’s niece, Dawning Pollen Shorty, is also One of Suazo’s collectors just ordered 18 sculptures of known for her micaceous clay creations. To see Suazo’s pieces in person, call him at (575) 758-1275 aliens, four to five feet high. They will be partially buried into or visit the Taos Pueblo Shops and the Jane Hamilton Fine “My son Warshaw is a great carver too,” said Suazo. “Now the ground to make them look as if they were coming out of he is going to engineering school in Gallup and has made the the hills. Art Galleries in Tucson and Santa Fe.
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By Teresa Dovalpage