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“Drought,” crafted during a severe rain shortage in 2002, “demonstrates the loss of the land’s beauty, the vegetation exhibiting thirst, colorless, and infertile,” says textile artist DY Begay.

Courtesy of DY Begay

Diné Textile Artist DY Begay Weaves Past and Present

Her tapestries explore nature's bounty and its unyielding spirit through the traditions of her ancestors.

October 22, 2024

When DY Begay sits at her loom, she doesn’t sit alone. Alongside her are the five generations of women weavers who came before her, the deities of her people, the surrounding landscapes on the Navajo Nation reservation, and the plants, animals, insects, and minerals that supply her work. “It’s my culture, and it interlocks everything I do,” says Begay. And while culture is inextricably woven into the oeuvre of this indigenous Diné artist (the preferred term for Navajo), who has been working in her native lands of Arizona and New Mexico for nearly seven decades, she’s not bound by tradition. “I use the same tools that have been used for as long as the stories have been carried but feel free to express my own creative process,” she says. The result? Stunningly modern creations that reflect centuries of shared heritage.

DY Begay in her Santa Fe studio.

National Museum of the American Indian

A detail of Begay’s dyed yarns.

National Museum of the American Indian

An earth-to-easel artist in the truest sense, Begay dyes her own wool from Churro sheep raised by her sister; walking the land to collect materials is her biggest inspiration. “What I see in the buttes, the canyon walls, the washes on arroyos—those colors are planted in my mind, and the plants can replicate those colors,” she explains. 

“Confluence of Lavender” (2016) is the artist’s dialogue with color, which gives energy to both dyed and undyed black and gray wool.

Courtesy of DY Begay

For Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DY Begay, her upcoming retrospective at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. (on view September 20 through Summer 2025), Begay looked back through her journals, mining what influenced her most, divining that the essence of her legacy is inheritance. “I’m trailing my great-grandmothers, and it’s an honor that they have preserved this tradition,” she says. “Now I’m passing on knowledge.” And ensuring all that beauty reverberates for generations to come.

Inspired by the abundance of vegetation that sprung from the ground after a monsoon, "Blessings of Rain" (2015) is woven from yarn dyed with plants the artist harvested herself. “I am captivated, elated and enticed by the abundance of rich, luscious hues carpeting the dry soil,” she says of the green vistas from which she drew her palette.

Courtesy of DY Begay

Like humans, indigo requires oxygen to thrive. "It's the oxygen that brings out the life of the brilliant colors. The process of extracting the dye from the plant is magical," says Begay, who used the pigment to create "Trails of Indigo" (2018).

Courtesy of DY Begay

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 14 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!