Elijah Naranjo Smith
2003 Dubin Fellow
We are pleased to welcome Elijah Naranjo Smith, the 2003 Ron &
Susan Dubin Native American Artist Fellow. Elijah is from Santa
Clara Pueblo and comes from a long line of Santa Clara potters.
He works with traditional clays and firing methods to produce black,
brown, and red combination pots with sgrafitto designs.
“I began working on pottery in 1999,”
Elijah explains. “I became interested in pottery because I
was amazed by how beautiful it was and is. I tried to make pottery
thinking that it would be easy to create such beauty. I have found
that it is extremely difficult to create beautiful pottery. In my
eyes, I am not artistically gifted at all. I love the challenge
of trying to create something that comes so hard to me.”
Before winning the Dubin Fellowship, Elijah
spent time at IARC as a volunteer, helping to move the large pieces
during IARC’s recent renovation of its vaults. As he observed
the oversized pieces being moved from one side of the vault to the
other, he developed a desire to make large pots, which present difficult
challenges to the artist.
Elijah has attended the University of New
Mexico and New Mexico Highlands University. The Heard Museum and
several galleries in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Denver have shown
his work.
Elijah will be working at the
Dubin Studio from June 16th through August 16th. Please stop by
to welcome him or watch him work.
