'Painted by Hand: Textiles of Patricia Michaels' Opening Reception

'Painted by Hand: Textiles of Patricia Michaels' tells the story of Michaels’ journey to create the designs she uses in her garments. As a Taos Pueblo woman in the world of haute couture, Patricia sought textiles that reflected the landscapes, peoples, experiences, and textures of her home and community. Finding none, she dove into the process of hand-painting textiles that tell stories of snowy aspens, mountain walks, raindrops, as well as relationships, birth, struggle, and triumph. In Painted by Hand, learn more about how Michaels makes her famed images, which integrate deep knowledge of the landscape and elaborate physical processing. See textiles, tools, and garments reflecting the intention that goes into each painted fabric.

Michaels was selected by the museum staff as the recipient of the 2024 Living Treasure Artist award.

This award is part of the annual Native Treasures Art Market and honors Native American artists who have made outstanding artistic contributions to the field of Indigenous arts and culture.

Michaels is known for her haute couture designs. Growing up in New Mexico, she was surrounded by beauty—in culture, landscape, and art, all of which influenced her design aesthetic. She became widely known through participation in the Emmy Award-winning season 11 of “Project Runway” in 2012. Based in Taos, her career as a designer has taken her to faraway places like New York and Paris. In June 2023, she dressed actress Tantoo Cardinal for the Cannes Film Festival to premiere “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Michaels will be celebrated with a solo exhibition in the spring of 2024.

“When I got the call from Polly Nordstrand, that I was chosen, I immediately had a flashback to the first years of doing the show on Museum Hill in front of Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, when it was called Small Treasures,” said Patricia Michaels (Taos Pueblo). “Wow, what an honor to be amongst accomplished artists. I hope this brings more inspiration for many artists that have been out here and ones yet to come. Taw-aw/Thank you, may we always be bountiful in health, culture, creativity, and business.”

The 20th annual Native Treasures Art Market will be held over Memorial Day weekend, May 25-26, 2024, at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. The public is invited to see the works of Patricia Michaels, Martha Aquero and many other talented Native American artists selected by Museum of Indian Arts and Culture staff. For more information about the Native Treasures Market visit:  https://www.museumfoundation.org/native-treasures/.

This excerpt and image are from the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s Event Calendar.