Santiago
ROSETA SANTIAGO
Dreams and Destiny
The new collection of paintings by Roseta Santiago is a testament to an unfailing eye trained originally through the lens of a camera, expanded as a graphic designer, and honed over time in a passionate commitment to oil painting, the artist’s focus since her arrival to Santa Fe in 2000.
With works ranging in size from 12" x 12" to 60" x 48", Santiago enjoys painting portraits of people, but, “only those with whom I find a connection and can go beyond the surface.” That said, few, more intuitive interpretations of the beauty and strength of Native people can be found anywhere.
Like many artists before her, Santiago has found her muse, a Navajo woman named Ty Harris whose image graces many paintings. Santiago’s strength lies in transforming reality into a mythic story, capturing the character and significance of a person or object. Nothing is contrived, be it a cascading Indian headdress or the geometry of a hand-built pot. Through her work, we can enter into a dream and touch another’s life.
“My paintings”, says Santiago, “are a visual language where I can say things I could never say with words.
The collection contains several themes, including the idea of shelter and security in a series of bird nests, a kind of “comfort art.” A suite of botanical compositions evoke abstraction, each lit by unseen
On the Cover Process, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 60"h x 30"w
“My paintings are a visual language where I can say things I could never say with words.”
light, vehicles for color and line. A series of paintings with juxtaposed figures invite us to contemplate their connection, while others speak to our own changing sense of self. Another depicts a Native youth profiled against a darkening sky, a reflection of his inner turmoil. In “Sisters”, two women express the same level of abundant joy. Yet another painting boldly examines the conflict of generational belief versus contemporary ideas.
Having studied classical art in Europe, Santiago reveres Vermeer whose brush coaxed an inner light, bringing his subjects to life. Her portraits, in turn, glow in a play of light and shadow revealing sculptural qualities of faces and features, as well as a spark of soul. Overall, Santiago’s mastery of the medium, her brilliant sense of color and her sensitivity to nature and humanity place this artist in an undisputable realm of her own.
