Desert Stories: The Art of Jazmin Novak

“Desert Stories: The Art of Kelly Frye & Jazmin Novak” (July 19-October 27, 2024) is an artist-led exhibition collaboratively curated by Kelly Frye (Tesuque Pueblo/Mescalero Apache descent) and Jazmin Novak (Diné) of the Santa Fe, New Mexico area for the IPCC Artists Circle Gallery. Desert Stories interweaves visual narratives of the Southwest in paintings, glass, clay, and bronze artworks. In Frye’s paintings, she reorganizes geometric patterns into symphonies of color that melt into each other. In Novak’s sculpture, she uses asymmetry in her color palettes to give emphasis to certain parts of desert animals, like rabbits and coyotes. Bringing together two- and three-dimensional expressions creates an innovative take on the world of the Southwest desert as seen in the artists’ reimaginings of geometric designs and iconic, brush-dwelling animals. Using color as a method of disorientation, Frye and Novak make us see familiar Southwest elements in a completely different and unfamiliar light.
Jazmin Novak (Diné)
Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jazmin Novak nurtures a life-long influence of the desert environment of the Southwest through her art-meets-science studio practice. Using bronze, aluminum, iron, and glass for her sculptures, her work reflects the relationships, beauty, and stories that the landscape holds. Novak believes that the connections between one another remain imperative to our well-being. She creates animal figures that may appear innocent at first but at once address complex and challenging stories of connection, identity, and shared humanity. Each artwork is informed by its process, allowing the form and the narrative to grow together. As a Diné artist, sculpture allows Novak to tell stories and evoke emotions from her Indigenous perspectives and life experiences.
Novak earned a BFA in Studio Arts with a minor in Performing Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She explores various mediums and textures in the arenas of glass and metal and employs the lost wax casting process for her bronze sculptures. The materials, textures, and finishes that she brings together reflect the sensibility of her sculpted characters and the stories they tell. In each artwork, she embeds gestures that convey emotion and expression. She explains, “finding the right details and working between imagination and reality provide me the insight needed to look beyond the surface of my work and to find its soul." Novak is establishing her studio in Santa Fe while also teaching at IAIA.