Roxanne Swentzell, resident of the Santa Clara Pueblo, is the daughter of Rina Swentzell. From a family of renowned potters and sculptors, her talent was recognized early, and she was given the opportunity to spend two years at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe before graduating from high school where her pieces first began to grow in size. From there she attended the Portland Museum Art School for a year. Swentzell was 22 when she first displayed her works at the annual Indian Market in Santa Fe. There, in 1986, she won a total of eight awards for her unique sculpture and pottery, and in 1994, she also won the Market's Creative Excellence in Sculpture award.

Among her most popular works is the Emergence of the Clo...