The Desert is no Lady. Women artists of the American South West - ACE275.6

VO of Ramona Sakiestewa, tapestry artist; on how artists’ work changes to encompass the brilliant colours and images of the desert regions. Sakiestewa on how colour and the quality of light affects everything. VO Sakiestewa on colour and the relationships between colours being very important. Pigments, coloured drawings, skeins of bright coloured wools, woven patterns. Examples of Sakiestewa’s Facets and Basket Dance series (1991). Her VO says they’re based on the colours and flowers etc., from the region. Sakiestewa relating how she once recognised that some colours she had used were not too intense, but exactly that of a particular sunset. Sunset landscapes and skies. Aerial views of mountains. VO Emmi Whitehorse talking about "White Shell Woman" (Yoolgai Asdzáá) and "Changing Woman" (Asdzáá Nádleehé) , important figures in Navajo mythologies. Whitehorse at work. Her VO talks about working with what she considers as "feminine" shapes. Images from her work. Harmony Hammond on how a lot of her work is about the body, but in an abstract way. Hammond VO one of her pieces on the metal elements representing the skin of the body and of the earth. Hammond talking about the surfaces of her paintings also being like the skin of the body. Hammond VO describing her ideas about her recent work, Bitter Harvest. Dry desert soil and rocks. Derelict farm building in middle distance. Aerial shot of desert from above wheel of plane and showing its shadow on the ground below. Landscape, rock paintings, photograph of Indian women. VO reading poem about Indian women, chanting, kneeling, digging. Landscape. VO continues. Landscapes, urbanisation, aerial and moving views. Credits.