Roseta Santiago is known for her dynamic realistic paintings.  History reverberates in each of her paintings.  Roseta Says of her art:

“The things that inspire me are the historical artifacts, historical people.  My models are people with whom I spend time and who have something to reveal. It’s always about inner beauty. It’s mainly the interior of a person or thing. I can almost experience a pot being made when I paint it. I just see what the potter went through.” 

She is best known for her luminous still life and figurative paintings of Native peoples and artifacts portrayed with dramatic lighting, Santiago is a master at chiaroscuro.  She uses mostly living models, although a few historic people taken from photographs weave their way into her art.  She says one of her goals is to honor Native American culture through her portrayals in her art. 

This painting is entitled, “Ancient Art II“.  It is an oil on panel. The painting is of a pre-contact Ancestral Puebloan jar with a handle, most likely Chaco in style.  It is a realistic portrayal. The piece is signed, “Santiago”.  Roseta has said of her pottery paintings:

“I love to paint pottery.  I often think of my pottery paintings as, “Earth Songs”.  It is a joyous way to talk about something made from the earth.  It is fascinating that in terms of Native pottery, these incredible vessels are made from earth (clay), water, and maybe a yucca plant that is the brush.  I find that mystery of their creation and firing to be fascinating.  When you paint a design on a vessel that seems so mathematical and precise and originating from simple tools, that is part of embracing the mystery.”