VISION QUEST OF THE SUNDANCE

VISION QUEST OF THE SUNDANCE Bronze, 32’’ x 15’’ x 15’’
Because hardship and the unexpected were so much a part of their lives, Plains Indians believed that through personal suffering, they would receive supernatural power in their favor. Suffering and testing were also forms of thanksgiving, because they proved, without doubt, their sincerity and gratitude to the Great Spirit for responding to their pleas. Sioux warriors believed that by suffering at the pole at the center of their sun lodge, they took upon themselves much of the agony of their people. As a sacred Native American ceremonial dance, the sun dance required exhaustive preparation, fasting, and self-mutilation. The sculpture portrays a sun dance warrior at the culmination of the ritual. Having completed his fasting and chanting, he is suspended by sticks that pierce his chest. He wears the sacred sage wreaths, and with his head thrust back, blows the eagle bone whistle. The sound of the whistle replicates an eagle’s cry, which delivers the warrior's plea to the Great Spirit above. Beneath him, the buffalo skulls are bound to his legs in order to hasten the tearing free of his flesh. The sun and the skulls further symbolize the mystery of the Great Spirit. 

I work with live models whenever possible, which allows me to respond and interact with my subject. For example, while sculpting Vision Quest of the Sundance, I constructed a hoist and harness to suspend a live model from the ceiling of my studio. This allowed me to authentically represent the tension that the fatigued warrior felt in his muscles from being suspended.

DUALITY OF THE BULL AND BEAR

I try to tell a story with my art and I want to share some of the stories behind the sculptures I have created. chrisnavarro.com 
DUALITY OF THE BULL AND BEAR Bronze, 6’’ x 15’’ x 8’’ This bronze represents the changes and cycles of the stock market. In a bull market, rising share prices encourage buying, while in a bear market, declining prices prompt selling. This is the first “reversible” sculpture that I have designed. By picking up and flipping over the sculpture, you are able to change the meaning of the design. From one direction, the bull dominates the bear. Flip it over, and the bear dominates the bull. The ability to switch the sculpture shows the duality and change of the bull vs. bear markets. clik on for videohttps://youtu.be/8OVqYAc4SQk

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

I try to tell a story with my art and I want to share some of the stories behind the sculptures I have created. chrisnavarro.com
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND Bronze, 25” x 24” x 9
Roping is my favorite pastime. I use a well-known saying to depict what every cowboy knows from experience: “What goes around comes around.” This cowboy is roping a rangy, crossbred, banana horn bull that has gotten in with his cows. The bull is fighting the rope and coming around the trunk of a tree, heading straight for the horse and cowboy. With his saddle starting to slip, he must decide whether to hold his dailies or let go. Either way, there's going to be a big wreck!

WHEN CHAMPIONS MEET

I try to tell a story with my art and I want to share some of the stories behind the sculptures I have created. chrisnavarro.com

WHEN CHAMPIONS MEET Bronze, 38’’ x 23.5’’ x 15’’ Monumental Bronze, 15’ x 11’ x 7’

Located in Greeley, Colorado, the Greeley Independence Stampede is known as the world's largest Fourth of July rodeo. I was commissioned to create the monumental sculpture When Champions Meet for the stampede’s 75th anniversary in 1997. The sculpture depicts saddle bronc riding, often referred to as “the classic event of rodeo.” The horse is rocketing out of the chutes, with a rider balanced in the mark-out position. What you see is a champion bucking horse against a champion cowboy in a beautiful, wild dance. I have probably sculpted more cowboys riding bucking horses than any other subject. There's always something epic about a horse trying to throw a man off of his back.

Rodeo is more about trying than anything else. A man or women with guts and heart can become anything in this world they want or desire, because to be a champion, all you have to give is all you got.

WHEN CHAMPIONS MEET

They say I've drawn a champion bronc that no one can ride.

Well, I'm a champion, too, and I’ve got just as much pride.

So I guess I'll take my chances and nod for the gate,

‘Cause it gives my life meaning, being in this wild dance with fate.

By Chris Navarro

WHEN SHADOWS SPEAK OF DANGER

WHEN SHADOWS SPEAK OF DANGER 
Bronze, 15.5” x 20” x 6’’ chrisnavarro.com
It’s always exciting to tell a good story. When Shadows Speak of Danger depicts a lone cowboy riding his horse down a steep ridge. His eyes are focused on the skyline of the next ridge, and he sees three warriors on horseback dressed for battle. The setting sun casts their shadows on the rocks below⎯ a foretelling of what is to come.

I try to tell a story with my art and I want to share some of the stories behind the sculptures I have created. WYOMING COWBOY

I try to tell a story with my art and I want to share some of the stories behind the sculptures I have created. chrisnavarro.com

WYOMING COWBOY bronze, 30” x 18” x 9’’ Monumental Bronze, 16’ x 11’ x 5’

Wyoming Cowboy is located at the entrance to the University of Wyoming’s Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center in Laramie.

The silhouette of a cowboy riding a bucking horse has long been the symbol of the state of Wyoming. The cowboy astride a bucking horse represents the toughness, pride, spirit, and independence of the people, animals, and landscapes of Wyoming.

My sculpture has been modeled after the great bucking horse, Steamboat. This famous bucker, bred in Wyoming, was voted Worst Bucking Horse of the Year at the Cheyenne Frontier Days celebration in 1906 and 1907. Steamboat was jet black with three white socks and had a powerful build. When he was a colt, Steamboat sustained a broken bone in his nose that caused him to make a whistling sound when he bucked, and that is why the cowboys gave him the name “Steamboat.” The old-time cowboys said the horse would buck his heart out and wouldn’t quit.

I try to tell a story with my art and I want to share some of the stories behind the sculptures I have created. WHEN THE EARTH TREMBLED

 Bronze, 13’’ x 40’’ x 12’’ The coming of the horse changed many of the old ways for buffalo hunters. The buffalo chase on horseback combined the excitement of the horse race with the challenge of the hunt. The thrill and exhilaration were so fulfilling that it became addictive to the hunter. The buffalo hunter would put his horse into a full gallop the moment the herd broke⎯a test of horse speed against buffalo speed. Each hunter selected a single buffalo and attempted to ride within a bow's length away. The preferred target on the buffalo was the intestinal cavity just behind the last rib and back of the shoulder, which allowed the arrow to penetrate the heart. This method of hunting buffalo became a real test between man and animal, as opposed to the later mass killings of buffalo by white men, which decimated the herds. Buffalo are no longer hunted in this manner, but there was a time not long ago when man, horse, and buffalo raced over the prairie and the earth trembled!