“Even with something simple like creating a grocery list, doing a math problem or doodling, the act of making an idea tangible on paper feels great. Working through the math equation or getting the list made is satisfying, isn’t it? That first touch of pen to paper creates the good feeling of potential and the possibility of accomplishment. It’s the same when I draw. What is added to my experience is that all parts of my self begin to guide this good feeling full of potential. My love of the material is present. My memories of things I’ve seen, heard, said, done, learned, felt and imagined are there. My personal rules, and my ego guides as well. This process of guiding who I am through a piece continues and becomes more focused. When any one part of my self becomes too prevalent in my work, I begin to lose a sense of a total interaction. For example, when my ego stands first in line, I get so afraid of not being able to create something worthy I lose a sense of possibility. The work then ends up unfinished around my studio. When all my understandings equally create a focus of movement, exploring and fluidness, I begin to have a completely spontaneous interaction with my material. All of the parts of my self are quietly humming in the background and the purpose becomes about exploring the interaction between me and the material. Eventually, my desire to have the interaction is satisfied and the piece is framed. This is my art process.”

Eliza Naranjo Morse, b. 1980, paints with organic material. She creates color variations by mixing mostly local New Mexico clays with plant product, gesso, charcoal and mica, a glistening mineral. Making art has always been a part of her life as her mother, Nora Naranjo Morse, began actively working as an artist many years prior to Eliza and her twin brother’s birth.

A 2003 graduate of Skidmore College with a bachelor of fine arts degree, Eliza has found a unique way to intersect her childhood experiences of living around clay with her classical art training from college. Her artwork was included in the exhibit Lifting the Veil: New Mexico Women and the Tricultural Myth at the Institute of American Arts in Santa Fe in 2008. Most recently, she, her mother and Rose Simpson were selected by curator Lance Fung to participate in the Site Santa Fe art center seventh biennial exhibit Lucky Number Seven. The three were the only New Mexico residents chosen for this global contemporary art exhibit and the first Native American artists to be included.