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Joe Cajero Leaps Into His Soul By George M. Green When I met Joe Cajero three years ago and was introduced to his work, I realized immediately that he was a talented artist. His sculptures were at once intriguing and engaging, reflections of his observations, infused with his own particular sense of humor. This was particularly true of his Koshares, for which he was already quite well known. As he was a young man, not yet thirty, I presumed it would be interesting to watch his growth as an artist. But recently something has happened to Joe and his work, something that goes beyond mere growth, something which can only be described as a kind of quantum leap. His sculpture has taken on a soulful depth which is difficult to describe. The pieces, in addition to being beautiful in form and color, are so new and unexpected, that I find myself asking the obvious question; how in the world did you think of doing that? When I expressed this idea to Joe, he excitedly agreed that there was something new in his work. Where he once looked at the world around him and attempted to sculpt those observations into clay, he now finds himself looking inward. "I began to realize," he said, "that being an artist meant more to me than simply producing art. I saw that there were levels in my life that I found unsatisfying and unfulfilled, and I realized that it was through my work that I could examine my own existence and even find answers. I needed to look into my own soul and find a way to express what I found there." One of Joe’s most recent pieces, which he refers to as his "Relationship Piece", (Relationship / Eternal Journey) is a wonderful example. The sculpture is two flowing forms that intersect briefly, then continue to flow away. The composition is two-sided, meaning to represent the physical world on one side and the spiritual on the other. This duality is most specifically noted in the head-dresses of the two figures. The night sky, full of stars, represents that part of the universe which is untouchable except through the spirit, while dragonflies and butterflies represent the physical earth in both the masculine and feminine. On the faces of the figures are altars, one on top of another, to signify the undiscovered levels of spirituality that may be accessed through life experience as well as prayer and the searching of one’s soul. On the bodies are more altars, representing life’s progression, often uneven. "Occasionally, along life’s way," Joe said, "we receive unexpected blessings, which are indicated by clouds above some of the altar steps." The recessed areas on the bodies represent the non-physical world, where spirits reside and guidance and wisdom may be discovered. The circles are spirits waiting to be made manifest. The colors, blending into one another, were chosen for their suggestion of love and intimacy, of Mother-earth and Father-sky, implying the warmth of love within a flourishing and sentient relationship. "Two
souls," he explained, "that start alone and find each
other, thus beginning a relationship. This is an idea which came
to me after much soul-searching. I wanted to know why I did not
have the relationship with another person that I desired. I wanted
wisdom. It became so personal to me, that as I went forward with
the work, I really gave no thought as to whether I was doing something
commercial or not, or whether I even wanted to show it to anyone.
I just wanted to express what I was feeling, what I was discovering
about myself and my need to find a fulfilling relationship. What
I found extremely gratifying, when the work was finished, was that
other people saw in it what I had tried so hard to express." |
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Market Makers
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Photo Courtesy of Wadle Galleries |
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Medicine of Happiness Sculptor Joe Cajero, Jr. finds inspiration in the legend and lore of his Jemez Pueblo village. By Linda Shockley The cherubic koshares of sculptor Joe Cajero, Jr. capture all the delightful nuances of the pueblo tricksters: they clown, flirt, tease, and generally wreak havoc. Koshares are renowned for a well-developed sense of humor, and pueblo singers, dancers and guests all know not to turn their backs on a koshare during any feast day or celebration. A pueblo cross between circus clown and court jester, koshares rarely fail to elicit smiles with their white and brown, broad-striped bodies, adorned only with loin-type aprons, beads and the traditional jester-like cap. "The medicine of the koshares stands for happiness. They take all the anguish away and bless you with positive energy. No dance would be successful without the koshares," Cajero explains. "And if I see a koshare today, it is the same as seeing one from 1804. The koshares haven't changed much." A native of Jemez Pueblo, home is where sculptor Joe Cajero, Jr. finds his inspiration. It's the people and setting of the valley of Jemez that provide not only pueblo legend and lore, but also the raw material of clay. "My mother taught me about myself and where to look for creative capabilities. Art doesn't come from mimicking books and other artists, but from your personal inner resources," explained Cajero. "I learned about pueblo traditions and history from my mother and great-grandmother. And my cousin/neighbor/I.A.I.A. teacher Felix Vigil has been another strong influence. The clay also comes directly from the Pueblo. When Cajero needs more material, he doesn't drive to an art supply store down a trendy lane. Instead, he climbs the hill to where he digs the amount needed for his next few works. Surrounded by views of the Jemez Pueblo village and the surrounding mountains, Cajero always offers an invocation before heading back down he hill. "We always say a prayer with cornmeal to Mother Earth. The prayer lets her know that we are taking from her to create something beautiful which will support our lives and those of our loved ones," Cajero explains. Cajero has delighted in are since childhood. He comes by his talent honestly with a long line of family artists: great-grandmother (potter), father (painter), mother (potter and sculptor), sisters (one a ceramicist and one studying art business) and brother (specializes in etching on stone and pots), among others. Cajero also studied art and was graduated form the Institute of American Indian Arts with an A.F.A. in Two-Dimensional Art. But his first real break came quite unexpectedly when Cajero was assisting in his mother's Old Town gallery of Albuquerque in 1988. Wearying of hearing him complain of boredom during a slow retail time, his mother in exasperation, handed him a lump of clay and said, "Here, make yourself busy." Out of that moment of annoyance, Cajero worked the clay until he created a small bear storyteller with cubs. He placed it on a shelf at the store while he began another. A short time later, a customer offered to buy that first sculpture. "I was amazed and thrilled. It wasn't even dry. So I asked her to return in a week when it would be complete - and she did! It was the best thing that could have happened for me," Cajero recalls. He worked exclusively on bear storytellers of all sizes and styles for two years before gradually moving to the koshares. It seemed like a natural evolution to the human form. The bears had become more and more human, until they even had muscle tone and fingers. It seemed only natural to move on to the humans." Cajero created his first koshare for the 1990 Santa Fe Indian Market. It was a small, sitting piece that took 2nd place in the Traditional Clay in Figurine division and sold before 8 a.m. on opening morning of the Market. He created eight pieces for the 1991 Indian Market, won a 1st and 2nd place in the same division, and sold them all before 9 a.m. Cajero hasn't slowed since. Getting to the point of sculpting takes a full week of clay preparation. The work begins when Cajero makes the climb up to the Jemez Pueblo clay pit and proceeds to pick and shovel the amount of clay necessary for his next pieces. He lays the clay out on a piece of tarp and crushes clumps into nuggets with his feet or a shovel blade. The clay is next worked into a fine sand that is mixed with a white flour-like clay (at a 50-50 ratio) which tempers the clay and allows the molecules to bind. At this point it is quite malleable. The clay is laid out and allowed to dry. The next day it is turned over and moved around to allow the other side to dry. Then it's ready. Cajero works almost every day in a small adobe in Bernalillo, New Mexico. With 7x7-ft. windows, the studio offers an abundance of natural light and unexpected views of quail, roadrunners and rabbits. While Cajero used to make small sketches before actually beginning to sculpt, now he simply begins with the clay. "I have a spontaneous approach to my work. There's a direct communication between my head and hands. I can meditate on a ball of clay and have a basic idea of where I want to go. But as the creative process begins, the vision changes and continues to change as the work progresses. For example, one day a hand fell off a sculpture and hit the table. It had broken off cleanly at the wrist. It hadn't felt right and when I reattached the hand in another posture, it worked. It was where it needed to be. I've learned that it's best not to set bounds for the koshare sculptures." An average day for Cajero begins around 7 a.m. with a pot of steaming coffee and the colors of a new morning. "I love working while the day is fresh," he explains. "I usually work 12 to 15 hours a day with a few minor stops. For those hours, the reality of the world is gone and I'm in my own world. It's a great escape. Cajero, the young man and the artist, is much like his koshares - generous, and playful in the process of creating these delight makers, the koshares. And you shouldn't turn your back on sculptor Joe Cajero, Jr., either but for altogether different reasons. Keep an eye on Cajero, not to watch your back but to see his bright future. The work of sculptor Joe Cajero, Jr. may be seen at Waddle Galleries in Santa Fe, located at 128 West Palace Avenue. Hours: 9:30-5:00 Monday-Saturday. (505) 983-9219. Focus/Santa Fe/April/May 1993 |
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Visions in Clay By Lynzee Webb The Koshari, in Native American tradition, is the prankster, a lighthearted character with a wicked wit who delights in playing tricks on the unsuspecting. Often feared by small children, the Koshari is the center of attention on feast days, when he runs among the crowds with his body painted in black-and-white stripes while children squeal and adults try not to become the focus of his attention. In the skillful hands of sculptor Joe V. Cajero, Jr., the Koshari is brought to life in clay with all the humor and gentleness of spirit associated with him. Cajero, 27, never intended to become a sculptor. From the time he was a young boy he thought his path was to become a painter. But his mother was a sculptor and he watched her for many years in the home of Jemez Pueblo. "I'd tell her, "Why don't you do it this way? Why don't you make a storyteller like this?" I could see all these things in my mind." And she'd say, "Why don't you make it yourself?" I never would. I'd say, "No, Mom, I'm a painter?"" "By the time I was eleven or twelve, she got really tired of this and one day slapped a ball of clay down in front of me and said, "Look, you do it!"" Cajero began by making a series of crude bear storytellers. Two years later, he says, his bears had acquired muscle tone and fingers instead of claws. It was then that he began working with the figure, and the Kosharis just came naturally. The newly wed Cajero works exclusively from the dining room of his two-bedroom condominium. Working on several pieces at a time, his works in progress take up every available bit of free space, including kitchen countertops, the spare bedroom and the laundry room. It's a fact of life his wife has accepted. "Hopefully, in the near future, we'll get a larger place where I can have a studio," says Cajero. Until then, space is at a premium. Cajero's formal training came while attending the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, where he studied under, among others, a cousin, Felix Vigil. "He taught me how to look and where to look inside myself, so I didn't have to draw from other artists in order to find inspiration. I admire the spirit of other artists, but I look only to myself in order to create." Although Cajero entered the Institute as a painter and received a degree in two-dimensional fine art, he took a number of three-dimensional courses, including clay sculptor. "I worked a lot with traditional clays, and learned how to establish communication between myself and the natural clay or Mother Earth," he says. "That was very enlightening, but I didn't truly value it until I began working with our own Jemez clay." At the Institute Cajero has a tendency to overwork the clays, which resulted in a great many pieces being lost during the firing process. But back at home, he found that the very grainy Jemez clay suited him perfectly. "It didn't blow up on me like Hopi or Picuris clays," he explains. It also taught him patience. "The clay tells me, "Hold on here. Not all at once." Good things come from giving it time. Sometimes Iāll work and work on something and it won't be right and suddenly it will be exactly the way I wanted it. That's how I've learned that clay gives life. Things grow from it." And while Cajero works, he's thinking about his next piece. "Anything might give me an idea. It could be a puppy or tenderness, or a very spiritual feeling I'm having. When I start work I don't concentrate on the anatomy or the details. It's all about a mood or the character of a person. I concentrate on the feeling of a piece and just let the physical details fall in place, naturally." Joe V. Cajero, Jr.'s work is exhibited at Blue Rain Gallery, 115 Taos Plaza. 751-0066 or 800/414-4893. Copyright: Taos Magazine March/April 1998 |