Sublime light : tapestry art of DY Begay = Shánídíín bitahdę́ę́̕ hahóozhǫǫd : DY Begay bidah iistł̕ǫ́ baa hane̕

Sublime light Tapestry art of DY Begay = Shánídíín bitahdę́ę́̕ hahóozhǫǫd : DY Begay bidah iistł̕ǫ́ baa hane̕

Book - 2024

"The first book dedicated to the contemporary Diné artist, featuring 80 stunning tapestries and essays exploring her life and legacy. Discover the unique weaving traditions of the Navajo Nation in this joyous celebration of Indigenous art and history. A fifth-generation weaver, DY Begay's transformative tapestries reflect her family tradition, her Diné identity, and the natural beauty of the Navajo Nation reservation where she grew up. The first book devoted to Begay's career, Sublime Light reveals the evolution of her work with 80 gorgeous tapestries created between 1965 and 2022. To fully reveal her life and influences, the book draws on Begay's journals, family photographs, and imagery from the Tselani, Arizona la...ndscape that inspires her work. Begay first learned to weave watching her mother and grandmother process wool from the family sheep herd using tools made by male relatives and working at their looms. Over the years, she pushed her creativity and began combining her ancestral weaving techniques with modern design, as well as blending colors historically used in Navajo weaving with unconventional dyes made from fungi, food, and non-native flowers. Much of Begay's deeply personal work pays homage to Navajo land-- its red-streaked cliffs, indigo sunrises, dreamy desert tones--as well as her extraordinary lineage. On every page, Sublime Light enchants"--

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Subjects
Begay, D. Y., > 1953- > Criticism and interpretation.
Begay, D. Y., > 1953- > Exhibitions.
Begay, D. Y., > 1953-
Tapestry > United States.
Navajo textile fabrics.
Tapestry > United States > Exhibitions.
Navajo textile fabrics > Exhibitions.
DESIGN / Decorative Arts.
Criticism and interpretation.
Tapestry.
United States.
exhibition catalogs.
Exhibition catalogs.
Catalogues d'exposition.
Genres
exhibition catalogs
Exhibition catalogs
Catalogues d'exposition
Published
Washington, D.C. : The National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution [2024]
Language
English
Navajo
Other Authors
D. Y. Begay, 1953- (artist), Cécile R. Ganteaume (editor), Jennifer McLerran (translator), Joe Kee (book designer), Kevin Coochwytewa
Edition
First edition
Item Description
"Published in conjunction with the exhibition 'Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DY Begay', on view at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, from September 20, 2024-summer 2025"--Unnumbered page 6.
Project editor, Alexandra N. Harris; designer, Kevin Coochwytewa; translator, Joe Kee.
Physical Description
271 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), portraits ; 29 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781588347565
  • Foreword
  • Introduction: A Singular Voice
  • Honoring Memories: A Legacy of Family and Place
  • Chapter 1. Láa'ii Góne' Saad Dah Shijaa'ígíí
  • Ata'ha'atiin: Tsélání and the Tapestries of DY Begay
  • I am Their Invention: Hozho
  • Chapter 2. Naaki Góne' Saad Dah Shijaa'ígíí
  • In Translation: DY Begay's Art as Story and History
  • Learning from the Master Weaver: Berdine Y. Begay and Berdina Y. Charley
  • Chapter 3. Táá' Góne' Saad Dah Shijaa'ígíí
  • A Master Colorist: Explorations in Color and Form in the Tapestries of DY Begay
  • The warp is even: taut vertical loops
  • Chapter 4. Díí'Góne' Saad Dah Shijaa'ígíí
  • Creative Tensions: The Tapestries of DY Begay in This Global Moment
  • Chapter 5. Ashdla' Góne' Saad Dah Shijaa'ígíí
  • Danizhóní (They Are Beautiful): Notes from the Artist
  • Chronology
  • Exhibition Checklist
  • Notes
  • Selected Bibliography
  • Contributors
  • Index
  • Credits
Review by Booklist Review

Skeins of yarn in lustrous earth and sky colors form a wool rainbow in one of the opening images in this beautifully designed volume celebrating the creations of renowned Diné tapestry artist Begay, a fifth-generation weaver. Other photographs introduce readers to the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona, and Begay's birthplace, Tsélaní, a place of mesas, mountains, and "sublime light" that profoundly inspires her. Here Begay's family raised sheep for generations, and this is where she developed her phenomenal skills as a wool dyer, using natural sources. A fluency in the infinite nuances of color distinguishes Begay's fiber art, in conjunction with her lyrical variations on traditional Diné weaving patterns and "reverence for life." Begay shares her family history, including memories of attentively watching her grandmother and mother at their looms, the first lessons in a lifetime of ardent study. Begay augmented her college education by traveling the world to learn Indigenous weaving and dyeing techniques. Her influences, process, and art are explored from different perspectives in illuminating essays by art historians and curators, while Begay's personal commentary accompanies her exquisite, luminous, richly dimensional, and endlessly contemplative tapestries. This glorious publication preserves Begay's first major retrospective exhibition, on view at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, through August 2025.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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