DepartmentTextiles-United States & Canada
19, 20, 21
NameTextile
Maker
Lisa Trujillo
CultureRio Grande-style weaving
Date2020
(not assigned)Chimayo, New Mexico, United States, North America
MediumNatural handspun and hand-dyed churro wool and silk, chamisa, indigo, log wood, cochineal, golden rod, madder, cota, synthetic dyes and acid
Credit LineMuseum of International Folk Art, IFAF Collection, purchased with funds from the Dan Prall bequest, FA.2021.14.1
Object numberFA.2021.14.1
ProvenancePurchased with funds from the Dan Prall bequest
DescriptionRug woven with COVID-19 pandemic scene with Hospital building in center, with people in different areas of the middle and back grounds, as well as homes surrounding the central image as a border. White fringe tassels along the edges left over from the weft. Mainly beige and off white colors with blue and purple mountain backgrounds.At the onset of the pandemic, the weaving shop and gallery Centinela
Weavers shut down. Co-owner and weaver Lisa Trujillo immediately
set her talents to sewing masks, sometimes using fabric distributed by
the Health and Human Services department of Río Arriba County. The
first 1500–1600 masks of the county program were donated to different
areas of Northern New Mexico, including the Navajo Reservation and
Jicarilla Apache Reservation.
Trujillo soon set up an outdoor shop in front of the Chimayo store
to sell traditional Río Grande–style weavings and new masks. The
first group of masks were made from leftover handwoven fabrics by
employee Lee Alexander. Trujillo stated that sewing masks “was a great
way to focus my anxious energies.” This energy eventually fed into
the creation of her large-scale Río Grande weaving. The piece includes
many different doors and windows that signify the shelter-in-place
orders throughout the nation and the world. The only open doors,
in the four corners, reference the above quote by Alexander Graham
Bell, what the artist refers to as “the mysterious future that we do
not know.” The piece contains figural images in various shapes, sizes,
and colors to represent the human population. The artist explains
that “nobody is colorless. We are all in this together and experiencing
this together … our interconnectedness is really important.” (From exhibition label text).
