No award given
About this Award: Awarded to the work whose quality showcases excellence in arts. Any medium is eligible.
Jurors’ Comments:
There was a unanimous agreement of the three judges that no single entry met all the standards each judge was comfortable with for awarding at this level. A number of entries were discussed that had merits. Among those that were discussed were “Saving the Navajo” (transformer, acrylic on canvas), a canvas referred to as “Raven” and “Mystic Songs” (three katsina figures emerging from kiva, acrylic on canvas). In the end, no award was given in this category for this year.
Mark Bahti: (About “Saving the Navajo”) I think it’s deserving of an award—it’s deserving of a lower level award. The comic book illustration art sort of thing seemed appropriate for it but... It’s a good beginning but it’s not there yet. If those feathers had been attached to the head more like a Navajo warrior’s, then it would make more sense.
(About “Raven”) Sometimes you can do things that are anatomically incorrect because they look fine to the eye, but that raven’s missing three toes. There’s nothing in the War Ceremonial that relates to that. It’s almost as if what happened is: she realized she had a real technical problem figuring out how those other three toes were going to be rendered so she just left them out. I would agree that it’s innovative; but, I’m not comfortable with it as a top winner.
Susan Folwell: I feel like the other judges do. I think the reason I initially chose “Mystic Songs” was because, although coming back to a traditional theme is almost a fail-safe, what this piece gives you is a traditional theme that’s done, I think, fairly well.
(About “Saving the Navajo”) It is more of an illustration for me. And it clearly spaced off the canvas. So giving it a higher award, I’m not sure that’s appropriate. It’s an exciting statement and I’m glad to see somebody toying with that thought. Clearly there was effort put into it. It’s a very cool concept. I almost would have like to have seen that concept taken to another level. I think something that could have helped would have been, rather than concentrating so much on the figure… What is it doing other than being a transformer? Maybe having a background: a village, tipis, or something. Take it to an extra level so you go: “I get it! I really get it!!”
Martin Kim: (About “Saving the Navajo”) I agree. The feathers seem to be more a token gesture of identification. If you had seen some sort of cultural references replacing the otherwise western culture mechanical body parts. If he’d somehow interpreted some of that too, so you could see this transformer truly making a transformation from one culture to another, I would have been really impressed with it.