Uplifting Art
Merchandising artist Joshua Tallas aims to inspire.
One of the great experiences of Santa Fe Indian Market is being able to see how traditions are being carried on in various traditional media, and the discovery of traditions interpreted through new media. Each year an artist is chosen whose art will be used on different kinds of marketing materials. This year, the artist is Joshua Tallas (Navajo) who studied interactive design at Northern Arizona University.
His image was created digitally. “I made this piece using Adobe Photoshop, he says. “I’m taking different elements from photos and adding them together to create something new. Digital art has opened a whole new world for me. With this it’s allowing me to express my culture in a whole new way.”
It was inspired by the Pixar movie Up, in which the main character ties thousands of balloons to his house to set off to explore South America.
Tallas, explains, “One night I was on my computer and I wanted to create a image that would ‘uplift’ and inspire people. Curiosity is what drove me with this project. So I thought why not, and added a hogan being lifted by balloons. I also added a Navajo woman and child on top. I thought it would be a fun but meaningful representation of our traditions of what we learned growing up and taking that ‘hogan’ into the world. I also wanted my audience to picture themselves on top of that hogan as well.”
In his application to Southwestern Association of Indian Arts (SWAIA) he wrote, “In my work you can find abstract paintings, graphic design, 3-D modeling and web design. I love to experiment with the skills and techniques that I learned in school by mixing them with my Native contemporary lifestyle…my work takes on various forms intended to draw in the viewer as co-author and witness, create new and unpredictable cycles of thoughts and associations, providing an experimental chance to challenge one’s perceptions, perspectives and assumptions.”