overall: 37 1/2 in x 17 5/8 in x 15 in; 95.25 cm x 44.7675 cm x 38.1 cm
Object Name:
niche
Place Made:
United States: New Mexico
Date made:
1991
Description:
Drawing from New Mexico’s long history of Catholic religious imagery and combining it with the 20th century craft of tin metal work, artists and the faithful express their faith and identity numerous ways. This tin and wood niche or nicho is made in part for the tourist market and partially as cultural and religious affirmation. New Mexican artists Maria Romero Cash carves the wooden figures, and her husband Don Cash create the tin work.
Language, culture, and religion have shaped the history and culture of the American Southwest. The interactions, confrontations, and co-existence between Zunis, Tiwa, Hopi, Spanish, Mexicans, and Anglos (just to name a few) have shaped ideas about ethnicity, family, language, traditions, and identity within the larger U.S. society.
