American Indian Jewelry has long been a tiny subset of the immense jewelry world. Most often, Native American jewelry is thought of as only the traditional turquoise and silver kind that resides mostly in the collections of serious Native American art aficionados. This limited view of Native jewelry completely overlooks the new contemporary American Indian jewelry that can be altogether hip, edgy, and modern while appealing to a much broader audience.
Navajo Cody Sanderson of Santa Fe, New Mexico is one of the artists giving Native jewelry a new look. His rock and roll style of edgy silver rings, bracelets, earrings, buckles and even hair pins takes the American Indian jewelry medium into a stylish new direction that could easily be seen on the young bodies of the toned and tanned Hollywood set. He works mainly in large eye-catching silver forms that he'll stamp or repousse into striking, bold designs that easily get noticed.
Although Cody Sanderson's jewelry is the kind that can bring American Indian art to a wider, hipper audience, it's not without acclaim from the more traditional Native American art circuits. In fact, one of Cody's pieces received the sought after Heard Indian Market Best of Show Award along with a first place ribbon at SWAIA's Santa Fe Indian Market.
In a world of mass-produced, expensive, department store jewelry, it is both refreshing and exciting to see the incredible, hand-made, one-of-a-kind pieces that Cody produces from his Santa Fe studio. He is exactly the kind of artist that's needed to take American Indian jewelry into new realms and bring the medium much wider appeal.
16 сен 2024
