Dallas Art Fair
April 4 - 7, 2024
Booth D5
❦
Will Bruno, Sophia Heymans,
Tyrell Tapaha, Sarah M. Rodriguez
Tyrrell Tapaha, Sonny Boi Summer, 2023.
Handspun and vegetal dyed Navajo Churro wool, alpaca, and mohair, 40¾ x 34 in.
The Valley is pleased to present works by New Mexico-based artists Will Bruno, Sarah M. Rodriguez, and Tyrrell Tapaha, and New York-based artist Sophia Heymans. Their practices address notions of landscape- engaging the art history of the Western United States, utilizing natural materials, and drawing from deeply felt relationships with non-human living things. Our presentation includes a range of media: plein air paintings by Will Bruno, infused with his characteristic comic sensibility; Sophia Heymans' figural landscapes which utilize natural materials to create textured surfaces; weavings by Diné artist Tyrrell Tapaha, who represents one of the most exciting emerging voices in genre; and cast aluminum sculpture by Sarah M. Rodriguez.
In addition to the works on view in our booth, Sarah M. Rodriguez was chosen by guest curator Sara Hignite to participate in the outdoor sculpture section of the fair. The works Hignite selected aim to demonstrate the range of contemporary large-scale outdoor sculpture being created by female-identifying and nonbinary artists, with a focus on juxtapositions of naturally occurring and synthetic materials, organic and geometric shapes, authenticity and artificiality.
Sophia Heymans (b. 1989, Minneapolis, Minnesota) grew up on a family farm in Central Minnesota with her parents, sister, uncles, aunts and cousins and was homeschooled throughout childhood. She became devoted to art-making from an early age and received a BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 2012. In her paintings she explores the relationship between the land and humankind, seeking to illuminate the personal, meaningful, and mystical relationship we have with the landscapes we inhabit. Sophia lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Will Bruno (b. 1981, Nashville, Tennessee) is a painter whose work explores the intersection of landscape and comics. He holds an MFA from Portland State University. Bruno has recently exhibited with Europa (New York), In Lieu and Smart Objects (Los Angeles), Smoke the Moon (Santa Fe) and The Valley (Taos). Bruno was a resident at the Macedonia Institute, Macedonia, NY in the fall of 2022. He lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Tyrrell Tapaha (Diné, b. 2001, Goat Springs, AZ) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice is centered around weaving, textiles, and fiber arts. Tapaha grew up on the Navajo Nation, where intergenerational pastoral living was handed down through their grandfather, great-grandmother, and other relatives. Working as a sheepherder, Tapaha’s artmaking process begins with the raising of sheep and finishes on the loom. Their textiles are made with raw natural animal and plant fibers, hand-spun and hand-dyed with local flora. Tapaha’s weavings are intimately interwoven with their feelings and memories, illuminating the complexity of their lived experience, the rich history of their community, and imagined futures. Tapaha continues to live and work in the Four Corners region of Dinétah.
Sarah M. Rodriguez (b. 1984, Honolulu, Hawaii) is an artist whose sculptural works often engage plants, animals, and other non-human life forms as collaborators. Her research, artmaking, and work as an animal trainer are practices in interspecies communication, material experimentation, and generating new definitions of ecology. She earned a MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles in New Genres (2014) and a BFA From California College of the Arts (2008), and was a participant in the Shandaken Residency (2016) and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2010). She lives and works in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico.
