C 1979

Gouache

22 x 17

33 x 28

Born in Clovis, NM in 1945 with his family moving to Oklahoma soon after, Harjo found the kindling for his lifelong artistic passion in comic strips and animation. He entered his formal artistic training as an 18-year-old student at the recently opened Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, where he found his love for printmaking. Harjo enrolled at OSU just before he was drafted into the US Army in 1969. After serving for almost two years, he returned to OSU, earned his BFA in 1974, and began his career as an artist and mentor.

Working primarily with gouache, pen and ink, and a variety of printmaking methods, Harjo also ventured into sculpture, jewelry, and other three-dimensional forms. He relied on color and line to create art that spoke to the continuum of his cultures and creativity at large. Skilled in a range of materials and techniques, Harjo filled his work with an emotional breadth. “It is this openness to interpretation, an artistic elasticity, that makes Harjo’s work accessible and why he was not just successful within the market but why he has had his work featured in many public