Jeweler brings diverse background to Santa Fe gallery
Sorrel Sky Gallery is proud to announce that it will now feature the handcrafted jewelry of New Mexico artist Shane Hendren at the gallery’s Santa Fe location.
“Shane’s doesn’t typically show his beautiful work in galleries so we’re extremely happy he chose us to represent him and his craft,” said Sorrel Sky owner Shanan Campbell Wells.
Hendren comes from a ranching family with roots in Arizona and New Mexico and began making jewelry when he was 19 years old in college at the Institute of American Indian Arts. He began his professional career working at the prestigious Museum of the American Indian in New York City before returning to the West where he enrolled at the University of New Mexico where he completed his Bachelor’s degree with a rare multi-disciplinary finish – he’s proficient in painting, sculpture, film, dance, metal arts, pottery and ceramics. “I did it all and I did it all well,” Shane said.
Although he’s been an independent jewelry artist for more than 15 years, Shane still doesn’t pigeonhole himself into any singular description or genre. His roots are deep and varied, tracing his ancestry to early Irish immigrants as well as Choctaw and Navajo bloodlines. To him, art is art and it’s a big part of why he chose Sorrel Sky to represent his work.
“I never did and to this day I don’t self identify as an Indian artist, I never saw myself that way. I’m a genuine American,” Shane said. “I was pleased with Shanan’s presentation of the art. With my museum background I cringe to see things piled on top of each other. I like to see a painting or a piece of jewelry stand on its own merits, so I have these standards how I think a gallery should present art. I only want to be represented by galleries that show a diversity of art and aren’t constrained by all of the idioms that exist – I don’t want to be in an Indian Art Gallery, or a modern art gallery. Sorrel Sky is representative of the community I grew out of and there are very few who do that successfully and I feel like Sorrel Sky is there.”
Sorrel Sky Gallery’s fresh approach to Western art presents a select collection of contemporary and traditional fine art and jewelry for the discerning collector. Sorrel Sky Gallery was founded in Durango, CO in 2002 and opened its Santa Fe, NM location in 2014. It represents over 60 painters, sculptors and jewelers including bronze artist Star Liana York, painter Billy Schenck, and or Ben Nighthorse, among others.