Without question, Bernyce Largo is one of the nicest people anyone could ever know. She is quiet and soft-spoken with a warm smile. She lives in Crownpoint, NM, and works with the school district there.
We met several years ago when she first brought a weaving up to the gallery. When a weaver comes in that I haven't met before, I always ask them how they heard about our gallery. When I asked Bernyce, she replied, "My ex-mother-in-law told me about you. She sells a lot of rugs here. Her name is Mae Morgan."
How about that! Bernyce rapidly became one of the women everyone in the gallery looks forward to seeing! She still works for the School District in Crownpoint, so during the school year, she doesn't weave as often and often will just send us her rug in the mail just because of time restraints. I don't like that as well since we don't get to visit, but it's always exciting to receive another weaver from her.
Her sisters are Loretta Succo and Mary C. Begay, both great weavers, and she has a very talented nephew, Ian Victorino, who is a weaver as well. It is terrific when one connection leads to the next.
Due to her work schedule, Bernyce weaves smaller rugs for most of the year. This summer, she is working on a larger runner that we are looking forward to seeing.
One of her recent pieces is a beautiful, square weaving that is her interpretation of a Chief Blanket design. What I have come to realize is that as weavers deviate from the traditional patterns, they are creating something new and vibrant. Perhaps it is what could be looked at as modern Navajo art.
The small piece has a cross at the center, sometimes referred to as a "Spider Woman's Cross." Something similar often holds down the center of the later era wearing blankets. The four corners of the piece, rather than repeating the cross, each feature a section of the central design. At the top and bottom of the weaving in the center, Bernyce chose to weave the stepped triangle designs found in Navajo Ceremonial Baskets (also known as Wedding Baskets).
Four Eagle feathers are adjacent to the corner designs, and what I think makes this weaving is the six stylized arrow lines exiting the side of the weaving with angular woven squares that make me think of the feathers on an arrow.
I like this weaving and think it is such a testament to the artistry that Bernyce's work embodies! You never know what this sweet lady will come up with next, but for me, she'll have a hard time topping what she has done with this lovely little weaving.
