R.C. Gorman's sculpture, "Natoma"
will be presented to the East-West Center
tomorrow.

---

Native connections

Navajo artist R.C. Gorman feels
a closeness to the Hawaiian people
and their culture

By Kekoa Catherine Enomoto
Star-Bulletin

Navajo artist R.C. Gorman's dad served in military intelligence during the second world war.

"My father was a code talker," said Gorman, whose quiet, simple words -- like the lines in his paintings -- seem weighed with vision and knowledge. He spoke via phone from Houston last week, en route to art shows in Honolulu, Sydney, Rome and New York. The 66-year-old artist unveils his lithographs and oil pastels of Navajo women at his first solo art show in Hawaii tomorrow.

"He just died about four weeks ago," Gorman said of his 91-year-old father, Carl Gorman. "He was the oldest and among the original 28 men who became code talkers for the U.S. Marines; so I'm very proud to have been his son."

R.C. Gorman feels a closeness with
the Hawaiian people and culture.

---

Today, the artist expresses through his own code -- graceful lines, vibrant colors and Southwest Indian imagery. "I paint mostly women now and I'd like the women (of Hawaii) to see the beauty of my own people, the Navajos," he said.

Gorman seems poised between two worlds -- that of a reclusive Navajo painter and of a celebrated artist jetting between galleries.

"I've been painting since I was 3 years old," says the painter, "so my biggest teacher has been myself.

"I just work," he laughs softly. "I've done just about everything I've wanted to do. I'm just happy the way I am. I'll just continue working until I have to leave."

Gorman has been to Hawaii many times, and he says it's his "absolute favorite place" outside of his home, Taos, N.M.

Gorman is presenting a 6-foot bronze sculpture, "Natoma," to the East-West Center Gallery collection. While he straddles two worlds, his gift to Hawaii represents a sort of anchor in another native culture.

"I love Hawaii," he said, "and I want to represent my people there. I think we're very close to each other -- the Indians and the real Hawaiians."

R.C. Gorman's lithograph "Dezbah."

Work of R.C. Gorman

Place: East-West Center Gallery, John A. Burns Hall, 1601 East-West Road, University of Hawaii
When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, noon to 4 p.m. Sundays, through May 31
Opening: 5 to 7 p.m. tomorrow with chanting by Pi'ikea Clark and ki ho'alu (slack-key guitar) by George Kahumoku; posters of Gorman's oil pastel "A Woman From Tsaile" and copies of his 186-page "The Radiance of My People" (Santa Fe Fine Arts, 1992) will be available for autographing by the artist
Admission: Free
Call: 944-7612

"Woman from Tsaile." by R.C. Gorman.