07.23.21 Michelle Tsosie Sisneros

Michelle Tsosie Sisneros

By Rebekah Powers | July 2021

A highly regarded contemporary artist of Santa Clara, Navajo and Laguna descent, Michelle Tsosie Sisneros paints traditional Native American themes with abstract elements and surrealist influences.

Her process is extremely slow and deliberate. She starts by mottling the background with her signature texture and color, then carefully paints each figure, each animal or bird in great detail. This can take weeks to render and in the final stages of a piece, she adds meaningful embellishments, such as handprints, spirals and planets. Her finishing touch is a bead of paint, black or turquoise or white that almost look like jewelry inlay. Her style has evolved into one that is recognizable and consistent.

She is the niece of Pablita Velarde, the grandmother of flat Navajo painting who may be the most famous female painter in Navajo history.

Michelle’s life has been challenging, but she has overcome great adversity to thrive. Her paintings have been her voice, and she has been able to acknowledge iconic themes, like the importance of friendships between women, and other subjects that speak to her personal struggles and the strength she has gained from them.

Winner of numerous honors and awards, Michelle says of her work:

“I paint from my soul. The images are from the people who touch my life in a profound way and the Mother Earth I live on.”

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