Shared Images: The Innovative Jewelry of Yazzie Johnson & Gail Bird

Gail Bird (Santo Domingo/Laguna) and Yazzie Johnson (Navajo) have been making jewellery together since 1972 and are considered among the first rank of Native American artists. SHARED IMAGES is a retrospective of their career in the decorative arts, spanning the early 1970s to the present. The jewellery creations of Johnson and Bird are frequently dramatic, always wearable, and compositionally arresting. Their use of non-traditional stones and uncommon juxtapositions of materials has earned them a place in the world of contemporary art alongside the most influential jewellers of their generation. Drawing inspiration from prehistoric pictograph and petroglyph sites, Johnson and Bird have developed a distinctive set of designs that continue to inspire contemporary creations. SHARED IMAGES emphasises the forty-six thematic belts that have won the artists well-deserved acclaim at Santa Fe’s annual Indian Arts Market. The book documents Johnson and Bird’s collaborative process and features a range of exemplary pieces shown in museums and galleries across the country. Published in association with the Heard Museum.