If you close your eyes and run a hand over the smooth bronze surface of the sculpture, it’s easy to pick out the carved details.
Spread feathers and fierce talons and curved beaks stand out. The sinuous limbs of a tribal dancer stretch out. Even without seeing the piece in front of you, the sculpted bird takes flight in the imagination.
Touching most works of art is seriously frowned upon. But the work of Michael Naranjo is different.
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Naranjo creates sculptures that are accessible to all, including the blind and visually impaired. The New Mexico-based artist completely lost his vision while serving in the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War, and sculpting became a way to heal during his recovery.
He not only encourages audiences to reach out and feel his sculpture, but designs his work to add qualities that sight cannot fully encompass. Guests will have the opportunity to experience for themselves in a new exhibition at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis.
“People are able to experience his work in their own way, whether that’s looking at the pieces, or touching every piece in the exhibit. There are a lot of different access points,” said Alisa Nordholt-Dean, the Beeler family director of education and public programs at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis.
“Please Touch! The Sculptures of Michael Naranjo” features approximately 30 sculptures spanning his career of more than 50 years. The exhibition opened at the museum on Jan. 18, and organizers hope it helps people think more broadly about people’s different talents and abilities.
“We take so many things for granted, being able to see or touch or whatever it is. Having a great awareness of what other people’s abilities are is going to be a good take-away,” said Jennifer Complo McNutt, curator of contemporary art at the Eiteljorg.
Naranjo, a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo tribe, had always been surrounded by art, even as a child. His mother, Rose Naranjo, was a noted pottery artist in Taos, New Mexico, an area known as a haven for artists.
But his own creativity wasn’t tapped until tragedy struck him. While serving in the Vietnam War in 1968, a grenade blast left him critically wounded. Though he survived the attack, Naranjo was left with no vision, and lost the use of his right hand.
It was during his recovery that he started to sculpt clay using only his left hand. Pursuing a career as a blind sculptor was difficult, as those around him, even other artists, discouraged him from trying.
Still, using his memory as a guide, he created stunning figures of birds, animals, tribal dancers and other forms.
“They’re all based on childhood memories, things he could see before he was blinded,” Complo McNutt said.
Naranjo’s sculptures are included in the collections of the Vatican, the White House, the New Mexico State Capitol and other institutions. This will be the second time that the Eiteljorg has featured his work; during the previous exhibition in 1992, it became the first museum to allow visitors to touch as well as view his pieces.
“It was so successful that from 1992 through the present, he has always had his sculptures be touchable. So we had an impact on the way he exhibits that work,” Complo McNutt said. “We kind of ushered him into that idea, and it has really worked well for him.”
“Please Touch!” came about through a partnership between the Eiteljorg and the Indiana Blind Children’s Foundation in 2017. Foundation officials approached the museum about working together for a proposal being written for the Lilly Endowment, pairing with area arts organizations of all kinds to make art accessible to everyone, Nordholt-Dean said.
“We were brainstorming ideas, and suggested it would be great if we could bring in Michael Naranjo, never really dreaming it was a real possibility,” she said. “We jumped on board with that partnership, funding went through, we reached out to Michael and here we are.”
The exhibition runs through July 26 at the Eiteljorg. Naranjo will be in Indianapolis for a series of events coordinated with the exhibition, including a program at the museum on Feb. 7 and an informal discussion of his work on Feb. 8.
He will be serving as artist-in-residence at the museum from Feb. 10 to 14. During his time in Indianapolis, he will be working with students at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired to teach sculpture and helping them create ceramic busts. The Eiteljorg has helped facilitate similar artist visits to the school in the past.
The opportunity for an artist of Naranjo’s stature to work with the students is incredibly unique, Nordholt-Dean said.
“I don’t think there are words to describe it,” she said. “To witness those connections that the artists make with the students is a truly moving experience. This is why we do what we do — to make these connections and bring these individuals together to inspire the students and show them what they can do.”
The exhibition will also include features intended to make it accessible to all museum visitors. Labels will be written in Braille, and a video describing Naranjo’s life and career is set up for people to watch or listen to.
Audio descriptions will be available on each piece that can be accessed with a smartphone.
“It lends a whole other level of exploring that piece of art. Instead of just the standard exhibit label that doesn’t offer a whole lot of description about the work, audio description can go into great detail about what the piece looks like, so every those who are visually impaired can get a mental picture of what that piece looks like,” Nordholt-Dean said.
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“Please Touch! The Sculptures of Michael Naranjo”
What: An exhibition of about 30 pieces by Naranjo, a Native American artist who is blind. The works will be touchable, adding another dimension to the ways that people experience the art.
Where: Eiteljorg Museum, 500 W. Washington St., Indianapolis
When: Through July 26
Museum hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday
Admission: $15 adults, $12 seniors, $8 university students with ID and youth ages 5-17; free for kids 4 and under.
Special events:
Feb. 7: “Curator’s Choice” presentation featuring Michael Naranjo, noon to 12:20 p.m., at the museum
Feb. 8: “Inner Vision: An Afternoon with Michael Naranjo,” 2 to 4 p.m., Hotel Tango Distillery, 702 Virginia Ave., Indianapolis
Information: eiteljorg.org
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