The Return of the Force Part 3: Wearable Art, Comic Art & More

The Return of the Force Part 3 features wearable art, comic art and more! This is the third in a series that showcases Star Wars art by Native artists that were included in a recent exhibition, entitled The Return of the Force, at the Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona. 

These stories were provided by artist and curator Duane Koyawena (Hopi/Tewa), and Samantha Honanie (Hopi/Diné), volunteer consultant and librarian at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff.

Christal Ratt, Mitchikanibikok Inik –Algonquins of Barriere Lake

Rich: Alright, here we have a magnificent doll, created by another female artist.

Sam: The doll, yeah, that’s by Christal Ratt. In her Mandalorian doll, she utilizes different materials. There’s fabric, but also works a lot with birch bark, and you can kind of see that in the helmet. She features elements like flowers and natural materials. It has been really cool to see her find her comfort level with displaying different perspectives in her artwork and we’re excited to include her because she is outside of the Colorado Plateau. Her cultural affiliation is the Anishnabek (Algonquins) of Barriere Lake in Canada.

She also created these two skirts. You can see some of the fashion design choices that she’s made too, combining traditional ribbon and flowers in the skirts with Grogu and the Mandalorian, really highlighting how these characters have been embraced by indigenous cultures. 

Rich: I recognize the licensed fabric that she’s using here, but the ribbon and the Mandalorian are amazing. How did she make that Mandalorian?

Sam: Yes. They’re wearable pieces like the ones that people would wear to highlight their involvement in the community. You can see some of the things that she’s added too, like the flowers and the green leaves to the left and right. She has since created a fashion line that’s outside of Star Wars.

Duane Koyawena, Hopi/Tewa

Rich: Let’s move on to your skateboard deck that features another Ewok. Please tell us about it.

Duane: Well this piece actually belongs to Sam here. I think some of her favorite characters are Ewoks. I had a deck in the previous show and it ended up selling, so I wanted to create one with an Ewok. Of course, this is Wicket, but I changed up his cape to put more of a Hopi-style cape on him. And the fact that they’re kind of like hunters and warriors is the reason why he’s carrying a rabbit stick. In Hopi, that’s what we call a “mojo” so it brings together the culture and hunter-like nature of the Hopi.

Rich: That’s awesome. Now, what about these shoes?

Duane: Yeah, my cousin asked me to do them for my nephew. Shoes have been a big part of my art career, kind of what really got my name out there was doing a lot of shoes. He is a Star Wars fan so I went at it. He wanted Darth Vader in there and I wanted to include both shoes, so I added the Death Star in there and some of the TIE fighters, which are my favorites. I’m a big fan of TIE fighters. Maybe I will make a new pair for the next exhibit.

I also included a couple of my collabs with NTVS Clothing in this exhibition. NTVS Clothing is a Native-owned business that creates limited edition clothing drops with designs by Native designers for everyone that supports indigenous culture. Their mission is to teach Native kids about the importance of culture and history. My Fett Windbreaker features a Hopi-styled Boba Fett design, and Vader Windbreaker includes his lightsaber on the sleeves and an illustration of a Hopi-pottery styled Vader helmet and Death Star on the back.

Shaun Beyale, Diné

Rich: Alright, that brings us to Shaun Beyale.

Sam: Sean grew up loving comic books and you can see he is both a fan of Star Wars and the comic style. He’s passionate about sharing the strength of Navajo women, especially Navajo women who are considered fierce warriors. 

One of the main characters that he features is Isa. He has a daughter and he said he wants to be able to share that idea of strength. He ties in different elements of Navajo history and Navajo culture into a lot of his artwork, like the style of dress, the landscape, as well as some traditional themes, like characters from different oral traditions. He’s done work with Marvel and does appearances to speak to school groups and children about following their passion, especially if it involves the arts. He’s very encouraging of people – that’s part of what unites us across these two different cultural influences is Star Wars and art and creativity.

Steven Paul Judd, Kiowa/Choctaw x NTVS Clothing

Rich: Let’s move to these cool collabs from NTVS Clothing.  I love these t-shirts.

Duane: Oh yeah, the t-shirts are additional collaborations with NTVS, featuring graphic design work by Steven Paul Judd. He creates a lot of art relating to popular culture and again, brings a different  perspective outside of the Colorado Plateau that wasn’t necessarily featured in the first exhibition several years ago. He’s Kiowa and Chakawa, and he blends some cool takes on historical photos with the inclusion of Star Wars themes and characters.

According to NTVS, they have been creating these limited fashion drops that fuse Star Wars and Native Culture for the past seven years. “Every ‘May the 4th’ celebration becomes a thrilling rendezvous of pop culture and ancestral heritage, as our limited edition designs transport you to galaxies far, far away while connecting with the spirit of Indigenous communities.

Pat Pruitt, Laguna Pueblo/Chiricahua Apache/Anglo

Rich: I’m going to move to these leather and steel pieces here. Who created these? 

Duane: These are by Pat Pruitt, a very well respected artist who utilizes a lot of more contemporary takes on traditional Pueblo culture. He is Laguna Pueblo, Chiricahua Apache, and Anglo. He has a strong following who love his stainless steel work. He designs everything from dog tags to beautiful bracelets, knives, and a variety of other pieces. He also utilizes a laser to do some of his etching and also some of his cutting, so he blends the use of technology with traditional elements and different symbols of strength from the Star Wars universe.

The examples we have in this exhibit are these four bow guards that would have traditionally been worn on the left hand or arm for bow and arrow use to protect the wrist. He is usually very busy with his work and traveling for shows, so I was really excited when he said we would contribute something to this exhibit.

Stay tuned for Part 4: Canvases Take Many Forms

Check out Parts 2 and 3 in The Return of the Force Series