Nora Naranjo Morse

Cause & Effect

Santa Fe – Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art is pleased to present a new body of mixed media and clay sculpture by Nora Naranjo Morse, titled Cause & Effect. The show runs September 14 – October 13th. Opening Reception is Friday, September 14th, 5-7pm.

This is Naranjo Morse’s first solo show since her inclusion in the 2008 Site Santa Fe International Biennial exhibition, Lucky Number Seven. The show represents ideas developed over the last two years at her studio in northern New Mexico.

Nora describes:

“One day while gathering clay along the hillside, I realized a major trash dump was a stone’s throw from the clay pit I was mining. The proximity of the clay pit and the dump was significant and set off a chain reaction of thoughts that have influenced the current pieces. Culturally I grew up thinking the clay deposits that run along the hillsides were sacred places and that the clay extracted from the earth was an act of conscious thought. The juxtaposition of this ‘sacred’ place to the dump brings to light global, human and environmental issues. Using clay and discarded materials from the dump to create the pieces is a metaphor for striking a balance in the way we live as contemporary people (no matter what our cultural background).”

Cause & Effect explores themes of balance, movement and form, on an abstract level, and “humans adapting to an ever changing environment” on a conceptual level. The natural grounding and elegance of ceramic forms, juxtaposed with the upward movement of intricately wrapped wire sculptures, will fill the gallery with small and large scale works.

Naranjo Morse is an internationally known Native American artist from Santa Clara Pueblo, NM. She is part of a well-known extended family of Santa Clara Pueblo potters whose matriarch was Rose Naranjo. Her work has been exhibited in numerous museums across the country and resides in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian NMAI (Washington, DC), Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (Indianapolis, IN) and the Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ). Naranjo Morse is also known for her numerous public art projects, most recently commissioned by the City of Albuquerque Public Art program for installation of The Guardians, at Altura Park. Currently on view on the Mall in Washington D.C. at NMAI, are five large scale sculptures titled Always Becoming, http://nmai.si.edu/alwaysbecoming/AlwaysBecoming.html Cause & Effect will be her second major solo exhibition at Chiaroscuro.

Nora Naranjo Morse

Cause & Effect

Opening Reception: Friday September 14th, 5-7pm.

Location: Chiaroscuro’s Main Space, 702 ½ Canyon Road on Gypsy Alley, Santa Fe, NM 87501, 505-992-0711

High resolution photographs available; call Heather Doyle at 505-992-0711 or email gallery@chiaroscurosantafe.com