Artist

Dennis Pioche

born Blanco Canyon, NM 1965
Media - pioche_dennis.jpg - 90114
Originally photographed by Chuck Rosenak. Image is courtesy of the Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material, 1990-1999, in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Born
Blanco Canyon, New Mexico, United States
Active in
  • Aztec, New Mexico, United States
Nationalities
  • American
Biography

Navajo folk artist Dennis Pioche started carving when he was only two years old. By the time he was four, he was making his own toys from the tree branches and roots around his home in Blanco Canyon, New Mexico. He began to carve small Navajo men and women from cottonwood after watching his grandfather, who made primitive wood figures for ceremonies (Chuck and Jan Rosenak, The People Speak: Navajo Folk Art, 1994).