Corrales, Jemez Pueblo artists featured in new book

CORRALES/JEMEZ PUEBLO — Two Sandoval County artists are featured in a new book spotlighting their unconventional creativity.

Cliff Fragua of Jemez Pueblo and Corrales resident Chris Turri appear in "New Mexico Eccentrics" by Brian D'Ambrosio.

D'Ambrosio, a former journalist based in Albuquerque, published the book in October, intent on writing about 40 artists, poets and inventors — living or dead — who display "eccentricity." To  D'Ambrosio, the word "eccentric" is not a word "for the odd or the unhinged — it is a word for the devoted," according to the book's introduction.

"The eccentric is the one who moves by their own gravity, whose orbit is self-defined,"  D'Ambrosio wrote.

Turri, a fabricated metal sculptor, and Fragua, a stone sculptor, have both made artwork in the Land of Enchantment for decades.

D'Ambrosio said he met Fragua at an Indian market before he was invited to the artist's home studio. Fragua, D'Ambrosio said, has "immensely wide and robust reputation and he is held in high regard in the sculpture world."

D'Ambrosio became interested in Turri's work in a Santa Fe gallery. Turri's home studio, D'Ambrosio stated in an interview,  is "an artist's reverie and paradise."

"I dig the combination of old car parts, hoods and doors mixed with a uniquely respectful and deep love of mythology, legend and lore," D'Ambrosio wrote in an email.

Chris Turri

Turri, 66, an electrician by trade, began a career in art 20 years ago after he found a turquoise-colored Dodge hood in the desert. 

That hood became an artistic foundation for Turri, who takes the skin off of vintage cars he finds at junkyards throughout the state — many of the locations he found through Google Earth.

Vintage cars are attractive to Turri not only because of the colors but also because of the lack of plastic, the thickness of paint, and even the quality of the metal. The car skins are then welded onto a piece of metal, which he makes look vintage using professional equipment.

"The old and the new come together," Turri said. 

The car skins, thanks to his steady hand, include petroglyphs.

"That took it to the next level," Turri said.

D'Ambrosio described Turri as someone who "unites his deep love of petroglyphs and Native American symbolism with his imaginative ability to bring out the beauty in what others might see as mere vehicle carcasses."

Turri sees himself as a bit of an eccentric as described by D'Ambrosio.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been described as eccentric, but I guess it fits," Turri wrote in an email. "My art and my process are unconventional. I walked away from a safe job and just went for it — just like I did as a kid wandering through the desert or making jewelry, cutting rocks on Friday night. I like being alone in my head and letting it take me into my art. "

He is considering publishing a book showing the history of his artwork, captured by a professional photographer.

Cliff Fragua

Fragua, 70, has been stone carving since 1975, beginning at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. 

His work has been showcased throughout the country, from New Mexico art galleries to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. In December 1999, Fragua was commissioned to make a sculpture of Po'pay, a 17th-century tribal religious leader, to be part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. 

Fragua prides himself on this and other works, including a "Three Sisters" sculpture, commissioned by the Equal Justice Initiative, at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama.

Fragua, who has been featured in books before, was contacted by D'Ambrosio for an interview in "Eccentrics."

"(I want) to educate — I think that is of the utmost importance," Fragua said of the choice to be included in the book.

His choice also stems from his belief that "the history of New Mexico must be taught and told," including how Po'pay led the Pueblo Revolt in 1680, an uprising against Spanish colonial rule.

Fragua said he does not consider himself an "eccentric."

"The word (makes me) reel back a little bit," he said. "However, his description does ring true as far as people who dedicate or devote their lives to art."

Fragua is also the 2025-26 Native American Artist-in-Residence at Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota.