Patricia Michael's timeless vision

“Actually, math, history and design are the basis of Native American art,” Michaels told me by phone Wednesday (April 17) from University of Virginia’s Fralin Museum of Art, at her visiting artist fashion and textile installation and lecture for the university and the public. She followed that with a show at the Native American College in Haskell, Kansas, on Saturday (April 20).

“We need to have a clothing revolution,” she said, noting how mass production blows it. “Just buying 2-cent t-shirts isn’t the answer, isn’t sustainable, because those just go into landfills.”

Referring to her “Four Seasons in Global Warming” (four, huge 8-foot by 9-inch-long hand-painted silk-satin organza works she created with fiber-reactive dyes), each piece is titled for a season: “Winter Vulnerable Sanctuary,” "Fall Vulnerable Sanctuary,” “Summer Vulnerable Sanctuary,” and "Spring Vulnerable Sanctuary.” She says the works reveal how the world is fading, “all from global warming.”

“These are not as pronounced as all my other textiles,” she explains about the lush-hush visuals of the global warming pieces. “I’m showing how we don’t want to take the time to find out how deeply our carbon footprint is, and how we’ve harmed ourselves. Digital design allows people to order one-of-a-kind pieces that are more breathable and eco friendly. The fashion industry had to learn from their mistakes and 'Spring,' 'Summer,' 'Fall,' [and] 'Winter' prompts a conversation.”

Michaels may be most famous for her first-runner-up star turn on Project Runway in 2012, where she was asked back to participate in season four of “Project Runway All Stars” — a first for a Native American designer. But the awards just keep coming: as an honoree at New York’s Fashion Week; the Peabody Essex Museum; the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian; and, among many more, the Governor’s Award from the state of New Mexico in 2023.

Michaels says she keeps her designs at a very basic level so the viewer can have their own thoughts, their own time and space, while also workinh to honor tribal culture.

In “Missing & Murdered Indigenous People,” she explores the fears and concerns of Natives about their missing people. She said the black shades equal “shadows” of the missing and murdered, white equals city, red is the earth, blue is water and green is forest.

“Being from Taos Pueblo,” she adds, “you can’t give details about our ceremonies, because that belongs to the ancestors, the people at the Pueblo. This pushes me to be more creative.”

FYI

“Patricia Michaels: Fashion and Fantasy” transcends cultures and defies fashion trends. On view only until May 12 at The Wright Contemporary, 627 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Taos. For more see thewrightcontemporary.com or call 575-224-0530.