Meet Harriette Tsosie | Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Harriette Tsosie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Harriette, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I like the saying: “Jump and the net will appear”. After my children were grown and educated, I took a big risk and moved from Iowa to the Southwest. I suspected I just might have some years to do what I wanted: PAINT!! I was still working, but, as a widow, I was eligible to draw Social Security early, It was enough to live on, so I quit my job (risk #2). I finally had studio space–a small detached building on a rural property I bought near Los Alamos. From home, I could hear the drums of San Ildefonso pueblo during the Native American ceremonies there. I started attending. The Native culture has had a tremendous impact on my work. Eventually, I married a Native American man (risk #3) and lived on his reservation for five years (risk #4). After that, we bought a house in Albuquerque where we now live and work. Artists have to take risks in life and in their work. Otherwise, the work risks becoming rigid and boring. When a painting isn’t working for me, I try to do something bold before quitting for the day. It’s a risk, because I could lose the painting, But I could just as easily create something unexpected and wonderful. Control is seldom the answer (although the detail I love does require some). It’s the process that matters. If you need certainty, art is probably not the profession for you.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art focuses on identity, which I see as shaped by genetics, language and place. The language aspect marries my academic training in English literature with my art education. I love the shapes various letters form, either separately or when intertwined. I’m especially fond of calligraphic writing, Asian, extinct or dead languages. The importance of text and writing is clear when I consider the struggle of New Mexico tribes to preserve their spoken languages. Language embodies culture. There is a saying that when an elder dies, an encyclopedia is lost. So I appreciate that my language is written. I include a lot of text in my work and use language as a symbol. I had to wait until my children were grown to fully immerse myself in my art. My goals now are: * to pass on my knowledge to succeeding generations; (done through workshops and social media); *to show my work in museums (accomplished through the Albuquerque Museum’s ArtsThrive shows and the Yellowstone Museum of Art exhibitions); * and to have my my work represented in public collections, (which is beginning to happen).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Acoma Pueblo (Sky City); Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (dances and good restaurant); Tent Rocks; Open Space Visitors Center; Petroglyph National Monument; Los Alamos; New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science; Albuquerque Museum of Art and History; El Pinto Restaurant; White Sands National Park; Valles Calderas National Monument; Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta; High Road to Taos; Sandia Casino; Farm and Table; Bandelier National Monument; Turquoise Trail; Madrid; Abiquiu; Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and home.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My beloved teachers and mentors included New York painter Jules Kirschenbaum (now deceased), New Mexico encaustic artists Ellen Koment and Paula Roland, both excellent teachers and renowned artists in their own right. Montana artist Pamela Caughey and her online Art and Success course taught me the cold wax medium and oil process during the long and isolating pandemic we have all endured. She’s a treasure. I enjoyed creating organization for artists who work with encaustic (pigmented wax) and eventually merged it with The Encaustic Art Institute, whose founders Douglas and Adrienne Mehrens continue to support all artists working with wax. One of the most influential books I treasure is Art and Fear, by teachers David Bayles and Ted Orland. My children have supported my progress as an artist and my dear husband, combat marine Viet Nam veteran Carl A. Tsosie, never told me no (even when I was sometimes too busy to cook)! I am successful thanks to the support of those previously named and my own perseverance: I just never gave up.

Website: harriettetsosie.com

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