The Santa Fe New Mexican from Santa Fe, New Mexico • Page Z044

Patricia Michaels presents eight looks, each displayed in its own unique environment, in a show opening at 5 p.m. August 15 and running through November 2013 at the Poeh Museum and Cultural Center, 78 Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque. Michaels said the show offers a new definition of fashion as art and "stands up for the rights of fashion, textiles and women." For more information, call 505-455-5041 or visit poehmuseum.com. During Indian Market weekend Michaels shows her work at the Legends Santa Fe gallery, 125 Lincoln Ave. An opening reception takes place at 7 a.m.

August 17. For more information, call 505-983-5639. Michaels is also offering two 3-hour workshops from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14 and Friday August 16 to demonstrate some of her textile techniques.

Workshops are limited to 15 participants each and cost $500. For more information or to enroll, call 505-983-5639. PHAEDRA HAYWOOD 14mm Mm 'mmmmmmmmmmmA mmm JVLmmM PHOTO THOSH COLLINS Couture by Patricia Michaels, Native Couture Fashion Show, Idyll wi Id, California, 2013. around the back or sides of the clothing. She says her inspirations include tall Northwest Coast trees, forests, killer whales, oceans, Haida formline art and basketry, elegant elder women, Coco Chanel and Mood Fabrics in New York City.

Virgil Ortiz creates fashion that mimics traditional Cochiti pottery colors, symbols and shapes. About his fashion, he said, 'All my inspiration originates from historic Cochiti pots, but with designs that I've pushed in other ways." He comes from a family of potters, and he transfers Cochiti Pueblo aesthetic concepts to the world of fashion. Furthermore, to advance his goals of promoting Native language and arts, he incorporates Pueblo stories and symbols into his garments and shows. As a former governor of his pueblo, Ortiz recognizes and values the important roles that language and the arts play in maintaining culture and promoting ideas of nationhood. Pilar Agoyo (San Juan Pueblo) has been creating fashion since her early years as a student at IAIA, working alongside such notable designers as Patricia Michaels and Marcus Amerman.

Her work is difficult to categorize, and her talents in couture are diverse. She has designed costumes for films and completed commission work for a varied client base. Agoyo often creates slick, edgy or theatrical pieces that add drama to the regular fashion-show format. The popular Navajo designer Penny Singer creates men's and women's shirts, jackets and accessories. She said, "The finished products are not simply clothes and handbags; they are true works of wearable fine art of the highest caliber, reflecting traditional Native designs in contemporary form." Singer, who initially wanted to become a photographer but was sidetracked by her immense success as a fashion designer, frequently incorporates photographs into her handbags to help tell a visual story.

Consuelo Pascual, who is Mayan and Navajo, looks to her ancestors, who were knowledgeable observers of the sky world, for inspiration for her collections. Her collections are influenced by the blackness of outer space, the glimmer of stars and the fluid architecture of spaceships. She works with iridescent fabrics, glittery cotton, shiny black suede cloth, metallic fur and black-on-black design and incorporates these unconventional materials with subculture designs into high-end couture, producing sophisticated dresses with a distinctive edge. Jamie Okuma (LuisenoShoshone Bannock) is a well-respected and award-winning artist. Okuma began working with beads as a child, creating her own dance regalia for powwows near her home on the La Jolla Luiseno Reservation.

Historical accuracy, exemplary workmanship and keen attention to detail are the hallmarks of her work. At the age of 22, Okuma became the youngest artist in the history of Santa Fe Indian Market to win Best of Show the first of her multiple prestigious Best of Show awards. She is now venturing into the exciting world of contemporary fashion. One designer who is making history now is Patricia Michaels (Taos Pueblo). Michaels says she is interested in the entire process of clothing making.

She begins each piece like a blank canvas, with white fabric that she paints on, silkscreens and then constructs into garments. About the relationship of her clothing to stories, Michaels said, "Every garment that I make, the fabric and the cut of the garment, tells a story. Some people do it through pottery or painting or jewelry. For me, I just thought, well, somebody can wear it. They can feel these stories on their skin." In the past, Michaels' work has been criticized as being "not Indian enough." Since then, she has continued on, unwavering in her dedication to her art, and this hard work is finally paying off.

In 2010 Michaels was the unanimous winner in Santa Fe Indian Market's textiles classification, competing against traditional Navajo weavings. Her win was pretty much unheard of for such a contemporary political garment. Even though it was a landmark moment to have a contemporary textile win the Best of Class award, some individuals still dispute this decision. Through her dedication to her art, she has created many new paths for future Native American designers. Michaels was also a recent contestant on Project Runway.

In this reality television series, fashion designers compete in various challenges to display their skills and creativity. Michaels was the show's first Native American designer. She says she is inspired by the world around her. This inspiration point is important because this is what grounds her as a Native artist. Her perspective on her environment takes shape as patterns in hand-painted fabrics that she constructs into versatile and creative garments.

They are artistic yet wearable two qualities that proved to be rather beneficial for the reality TV series. Much of Michaels' work is concept based, environment based or story based which are some of the core entities of Native American creativity. 2013 INDIAN MARKET.