Natasha
Smoke Santiago

MOHAWK,TURTLE Clan

Potter, painter, and sculptor, Smoke Santiago was brought up surrounded by family in the traditions of the Longhouse. As a teen she relocated from her Rochester birthplace to her grandfather's homeland of Akwesasne. There, her once youthful expressions exploded into artistic and spiritual maturity.

 

Working with near inexhaustible dedication, she looks to Haudenosaunee values, contemporary concerns, and the natural world for purpose. Cast from her own body and those of her friends, Natasha's belly sculptures honor the miraculous capacity of women to bear life and celebrate the nourishing continuity in the practice of cultural traditions.

 

 

 

Emerging Corn, 2012

Densite plaster, acrylic, and cornhusk

 

NYSM E2013.64