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"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.

 

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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.

 

 

 

"Get back in your box" (bracelet) -2011

"5th Avenue" (purse) -2011

"Follow my trax" (bracelet) -2010