J1072 Tufa Cast Cuff
Spider web bracelet by Santo Domingo silversmith Gilbert Dino Garcia. The 1 ½” tufa cast cuff has a cut out spider web pattern emerging from a Sleeping Beauty turquoise cabochon in the center. The inside of the cuff is 5 ½” with a 1” gap.
Tufa casting is a technique of pouring molten silver into a tufa stone mold and letting it harden into a given form. The mold is only used once; therefore each item is an original piece.
Santo Domingo artist Dino Garcia, born in 1969, has been an active silversmith since the 1990’s. He learned the art of carving tufa molds and casting silver from his grandfather Leo Coriz (who learned the art from the renowned Hopi artist Charles Loloma). Dino is one of the few silversmiths living and working at the Santo Domingo Pueblo today.
About the artist
Dino Garcia
Santo Domingo artist Dino Garcia, born in 1969, has been an active silversmith since the 1990’s. He learned the art of carving tufa molds and casting silver from his grandfather Leo Coriz (who learned the art from the renowned Hopi artist Charles Loloma).
Gilbert “Dino” Garcia is one of only a handful of working silversmiths at Santo Domingo Pueblo. He works with both silver and gold and specializes in casting his pieces in hand-carved tufa stone molds. Dino’s pieces, however, are different from those of most sandcast artists. Dino uses a soft tufa which he digs at a location in Arizona shown to him by his grandfather. This soft tufa allows Dino to carve particularly detailed designs in the stone, but the very softness of the stone means that each mold is only good for casting one piece. Dino’s two-piece molds are carved on each side so that his pieces show carved designs on both sides; on the outside and inside, or front and back. Each piece of his is truly a one-of-a-kind work because the mold itself does not survive the casting process intact.
After spending his teen years in an Indian boarding school in Oklahoma, Dino moved to California and worked in the greater Los Angeles area for defense contractors for a few years. Returning to Santo Domingo Pueblo around 2000, he began working as a full-time silver smith.
Dino’s work is distinctive for its geometric patterns, spider webs, and representations of corn plants.
