Christopher Burkett
Born in 1951, Burkett was severely nearsighted as a child. In the first grade, however, he was given glasses, and the doors of his perception were cleansed. He was astonished to discover that his heretofore unfocused world of fuzzy blobs and blurred shapes was charged with “incredible, miraculous details everywhere.
At 19, Burkett entered an Orthodox Christian religious order in which, for seven years, he served as a brother. During this time he came to comprehend, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, that the “Earth’s crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God. It is in nature that Burkett sees God’s grandeur shining through most brightly. Sharing John Muir’s view that “every natural object is a conductor of Divinity,” he writes: The world untouched and undefiled by man is one of indescribable beauty and wonder. All of our world, each living cell, every stone and drop of water, even the air and light around us, reflects and mirrors the glory and presence of the Creator and calls us to respond with wonder and praise. The purpose of my photography is to provide a brief, if somewhat veiled glimpse into that clear and brilliant world of light and power.
Michael Naranjo
Michael Naranjo is a Native American blind sculptor. Born in 1944 – Santa Clara Pueblo,NM, as a Tewa Tribe people. He was raised in Taos, New Mexico. The son of the ceramic artist Rose Naranjo. He made first contact with pottery and art by the side of his mother. He was drawn into the army and served in Vietnam War.[1] During the patrol the Viet Cong soldier threw the grenade that took his sight and maimed his right hand. During the convalescence period he start sculpting in clay. Gradually sculpting became his passion and profession. The first models were made in clay, wax and papier-mache, some were cast in bronze. Later he creates in stone. His favourite topics are Native American warrior, a hoop dancer, a female nude, a child, a soldier, a bear or fish or bird.