Convocation                                     Mexican Dream                                Pueblo Ghosts                                Santa Fe Railroad













New Mexican Images

These four images convey an evocation of the Ancestral Pueblo people of New Mexico in a somewhat surrealistic form.

A prime influence has been the Alexander Girard Wing of the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe.  Girard was a textile designer, contemporary with Charles Eames, who was responsible for creating ‘international style’ interiors during the 50s and 60s in the USA. 

His interests were catholic; he became an inveterate collector of folk art from round the world.  At a time when very few people were taking notice of traditional artifacts produced by indigenous tribes or, for that matter, popular art created by Western countries, Girard and his wife toured the world in their search for popular art, toys, icons etc. to create a collection which, in the end, numbered over 100,000 pieces.

Girard employed all his considerable skills as a designer to produce settings and visual story lines for his collection which, to this day, constantly delights and entertain visitors.  The overall result is a model of imaginative museum design.

Just a few pieces from Girard’s collection form the basis of my four Mexican images:

Mexican Dream, placed in the setting of New Mexico’s remarkable skyscape, shows various figures floating, flying, appearing and disappearing.

In Convocation, Ancestral Pueblo people are gathered in the high and remote Ceremonial Cave (now known as Alcove House) – part of Bandelier National Monument, near Santa Fe.

Santa Fe Railroad harks back to the days when Santa Fe itself was a major junction within North America’s cross-continental railway system.  This picture is dedicated to my first grandson, Diego.

In Pueblo Ghosts, Ancestral Pueblo people have gathered together in the ancient Puye Cliff Dwellings – a place between Earth and Sky.