About the Artist
Venancio Aragón is an experimental textile weaver whose work combines ancient techniques with vibrant polychromatic designs that have come to be known as an “Expanded Rainbow Aesthetic.” Aragón learned to weave from his mother, Irveta, at the age of ten and has developed a creative practice focused on reviving rare and lesser-known techniques, including twills, two-faced and shaped weavings, tufting, and hybrids.
Fusing his cultural background with the knowledge he gained while earning degrees in Cultural Anthropology (University of New Mexico) and Native American & Indigenous Studies (Fort Lewis College), Aragón views Navajo weaving as a way to preserve Diné culture and identity by promoting the continuation and practice of his ancestors’ legacy. Aragón’s textiles have been featured in major publications and exhibited widely, including at the Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ), Museum of Fine Arts (St. Petersburg, FL), Tempe Center for the Arts (Tempe, AZ), and the Ah Haa School for the Arts’ Daniel Tucker Gallery (Telluride, CO). Aragón is a past Rollin and Mary Ella King Native Artist Fellow with the School for Advanced Research (Santa Fe, NM) and has received numerous accolades for his textiles, including Best of Class–First Place and Judge’s Choice awards from the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market and the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts’ Santa Fe Indian Market.
In addition to his weaving practice at his home studio in Farmington, NM, Aragón is a full-time faculty member of Navajo Cultural Arts at Diné College and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Education at Fort Lewis College.
For more information visit Venancio’s website and Instagram.