What it means to be a New Mexican artist

I caught the last half of a presentation at the Fuller Lodge about what it means to be a New Mexican artist.

James A. Vigil was sharing a little about how his upbringing in the Jemez Pueblo influenced his art. What really struck me was how he didn't even realize that he was learning about art. He was just living his life, and absorbing the rich culture and traditions of his family.

In New Mexico, it wasn't long ago when most people were making a living through subsistence farming, and making everything that you need. When he was a young boy he lived on ranches where they were out in the fields all day and came home to the smell of fresh tortillas on the wood burning stove. His memories involve all the senses, and it comes into his work because he wants to capture his memories and the stories that his mom tells him of the past.

He showed an example of just such a story with one of the sculptures in the gallery. It was of a little girl holding a squirrel like a doll. His mother, and a lot of girls her age, used to have a doll that was made out of a stuffed squirrel found in the mountain. Since he completed the piece a lot of women have been coming up to him to tell him that they used to have a squirrel for a doll too. I wonder if that's the New Mexican equivalent of a corn cob doll.

He started sculpting in the 80's when there was a surge in Native American sculpture being done. He started helping a friend, Clifford Fragua, with his art and the relationship ended up being an extended mentorship. After a few years he started coming up with his own ideas for stone sculpture and by then he had the skills to complete the projects from his imagination.