Abstract Carvers

Zuni Abstract Carvers have a style that derived in some respect out of the the first traditional Zuni carvings. A faculty of recall is conjured up within the viewer that doesn't convey the physical life of the fetish; but rather the order of ideals that once prevailed there. It is in this realm where the object jogs the memory to other levels of meaning. Abstract carvers are drawn to ambiguous and simplified expressions that capture the essence of the subject.  Often times only salient forms that make an animal stand out are carved in the stone - the shape of the shoulders, distinctive eye sockets, ears, snouts or tails. Some of the abstract carvers don't inlay eyes, some imply motion with the feet work or the tilt of the head. All in all; abstract carvers' work conjure the magical transition of the general form into a universal form; its modal shift from existence and possibility to necessity.

Melvin Sandoval - Melissa Quam - Jimmy Yawakia - Jayne and Lynn Quam - Herb Halate - Dee Edaakie - Debra Gasper and Ray Tsethlikai - Bryston Bowannie