"I began making
jewelry as a child. I saw it as a form of playing and being
able to express my ideas. I still see it this way today. I
feel jewelry allows me to escape into another realm. It enables
me to create beauty for myself, as well as others, to enjoy.
It also provides me with a good sense that I am able to pass something
to the future generations. I create art through metal. I use
the silver and gold to express the stability. I use the stone
and shell to express emotion. I am always interested in finding
new ways of creating. I feel artists must push themselves
and not be afraid to create new designs or ideas; this is
what helps an artist grow."
David Gaussoin, born in Santa Fe, New Mexico of Picuris Pueblo,
Navajo, and French decent, stems from a long line of artists
on his mother's side with various silversmiths, painters, rug
weavers, sculptors, and wood workers.
David's primary teacher has been his mother, Connie Tsosie Gaussoin.
She taught him the basics of jewelry and encouraged him to discover
his own methods. He has expanded his knowledge of techniques
with classes at the University of New Mexico, Pueblo V Design
Institute, and the Institute of American Indian Arts. He received
his BBA in Business Marketing from the Anderson School of Business
at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM; and plans to
to earn a Masters Degree in Fine Arts (MFA). Additionally, David has traveled extensively
throughout the European continent, from the Scandinavian Countries
down to Italy, as well as the countries of Mexico, Israel, Mozambique, and South Africa.
David actively participates in various juried art
shows throughout the country; including the
Santa Fe Indian Market; the Heard Museum
in Phoenix, AZ; and the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, CA. His
jewelry is in various permanent collections as well as many private collections throughout the world. He has taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts, the Poeh Arts Center, the Idyllwild School of Arts, and the Heard Museum.
David works with gold, sterling
silver, and various precious and semiprecious stones, as well
as incorporating materials not necessarily associated with jewelry,
such as steel. He uses various techniques, from traditional
Tufa casting and hand stamping to wax castings and lapidary,
and he continually looks for new techniques and ideas. David
focuses his work towards the perfection of craftsmanship and he
pushes his designs to new unexplored realms of jewelry.
Selected Awards and Honors:
40 under 40 Award, NM Business Weekly, NM
– 2007
King Fellowship Award, School of American Research, Santa Fe, NM
– 2006
Collectors Choice Award, Museum of Indian Arts and
Culture, Santa Fe, NM
– 2002
The Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant, New York, NY
– 2002
Heard Museum, Heard Museum Indian Fair, Phoenix, AZ
– 2005,2004, 2001, 1998, 1991, 1990 (2007 Jewelry Judge)
SWAIA, Southwest Association for Indian
Arts, Santa Fe, NM
– 2003, 2001, 2000, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1993
ENIPC, Eight Northern Pueblos Council Annual Summer
Show, NM
– 2001, 2000, 1999, 1997, 1995, 1990
Permanent Collections:
Museum of Art and Design, New York City, New York
Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mayo Clinic Hospital, Healing Garden, Scottsdale, Arizona
School of American Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico
San Diego Museum of Man, San Diego, California
Casino Arizona at Salt River, Scottsdale, Arizona
Selected Publications:
High Street Fashion Jewelry, Jessica Metcalfe, Beyond Buckskin Blog, 2011
Santa Fe Indian Market 2011 Fashion Event, Jessica Metcalfe, Beyond Buckskin Blog, 2011
Making it New, Chee Brossy, Santa Fe Reporter, Aug 17, 2011
Natives look for evolution at Indian Market, Chee Brossy, Navajo Times, Aug 25, 2011
Podcast: Tsosie-Gaussoin Studio, Jessica Metcalfe, Beyond Buckskin Blog, 2010
Masters of Contemporary Indian Jewelry, Nancy N. Schiffer,
Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2009
Contemporary Southwestern Jewelry, Diana F. Pardue with the Heard Museum, 2007
A New Era in Jewelry: Forging a Future, Diana Pardue, Ornament Magazine, Vol. 31 No. 2, 2007
Strains of Helsinki, Berlin Infuse Navajo Jeweler's Work, Gussie Fauntleroy, Santa Fe Trend,
Summer 2007.
Creating with Metal, Dr.Gregory Schaaf, Native Peoples Magazine, Sept/Oct 2007
A Native jeweler in Santa Fe takes his family’s traditions into modern times, Dottie Indyke,
Southwest Art Magazine, September 2006
Artists Tackle New Genre for Mayo Clinic, Dottie Indyke, El Palacio,Vol.111/No3, 2006
Native Artists Collaborate on Bench Project in Mayo Clinic’s
Healing Garden, Heard Museum
Journal, 2006
FASHIONATION, Native Designers Step it up, Susan Heard, Native Peoples Magazine, 2006
Turquoise Jewelry, 2nd Edition, Nancy N Schiffer, 2005
PRECIOUS, Native Jewelry by 20 Living Masters, Dr. Gregory Schaaf, Native Peoples Magazine,
Sept/Oct 2004
Breaking New Ground, Russ Tall Chief, The Santa Fean Magazine, Aug 2004
American Indian
Jewelry I, 200 Artist Biographies, Gregory
Schaaf, CAC Press, 2003
Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, 1, Taubman & McFadden,
American Craft Museum, 2002
The World of Digital Camera: PHOTO GALLERY, Takatoshi
Sato, World Photo Press (Japan), 2000
Indian Jewelry, World Photo Press - Japan, 2000
PUEBLO
ARTISTS: Portraits, photographs by Toba Tucker and essays
by Alfred Bush, Rina
Swentiell, and Lonnie Vigil, 1998
Artist Tastes, collected by Barbara Harjo with test
by Julie Person Little Thunder, 1998
Selected Residencies/Instructing:
Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM 2010, 2011,2012
PIKO Gathering of Indigenous Visual Artists, Waimea, South Kohala, HI, 2007
The Answers Lie Within, South Africa & Mozambique, 2007
School of American Research, Santa Fe, NM, 2006
Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ 2001, 2006
The Idyllwild School of Arts, Idyllwild, CA 2003 - 2004
IAIA, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2002 - 2003, 2011, 2012
Poeh Arts Program, Pojoaque,
NM 2001 - 2004
San Diego Museum of Man, San Diego, CA 1996
Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, NM 1991
Selected Invitational Exhibitions
University of San Diego (David W. May Gallery), “Silver & Stones”, San Diego, CA.
Wheelwright Museum, “Radical Jewelry Makeover”, Santa Fe, NM.
UNESCO Creative Cities, “Showcase for UNESCO”, Seoul, South Korea.
Museum of Art & Design;"LOOT", NY
Museum of Art & Design;"Permanently MAD: Revealing the Collection", NY
Museum of Art & Design;"Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation", NY
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture; "Native Couture I & II: A History of Santa Fe Style", NM
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture; "Here, Now, & Always", NM
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts; "TOTEM", NM
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts; "Opulence", NM
Millicent Rogers Museum; "Enchanted Jewelry Show ", NM
Santa Fe Community Gallery;"Waste/Not ", NM
Santa Fe Community Gallery;"Generations", NM
Grahmstown Art Festival; "IAIA Invitational", South Africa
Heard Museum, “Native Style-Where Fashion is Heard”, Phoenix, AZ.
Heard Museum; "Young Jewelers: Forging a Future ", AZ
Heard Museum; "Norman Sandfield's Seed Pot Collection", AZ
Navajo Nation Museum; "Invitational Art Exhibition", AZ
Mesa Contemporary Arts;"Transcending Tradition ", AZ
Heard Museum North; "Containers Exhibit", AZ
Desert Caballeros Western Museum; "2002-2003 Invitational", AZ
Boards and Memberships:
Museum of New Mexico Foundation Board, Santa Fe, NM.
Avant Garde, Steering Committee, Santa Fe, NM.
City of Santa Fe, Arts in Public Places Committee, Santa Fe, NM.
Native Underground, Co-Chair, MIAC/AG, Santa Fe, NM.
Pueblo Opera Program, Santa Fe, NM.
Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs (SWAIA) Board of Directors, Santa Fe, NM
Friends of Indian Art, MIAC, Member, Santa Fe, NM.
SFCC Jewelry Dept. Advisory Committee, Member, Santa Fe, NM.
Back to top
Tsosie-Gaussoin Studio © 2012
All Rights Reserved.
All jewelry, fashion, and design property
of Tsosie-Gaussoin Studio. Use, duplication or reproduction of images and design prohibited without the express permission of Tsosie-Gaussoin Studio.
|