Jason Takala

Hopi silversmith Jason Takala is a master of cutting. He was born July 19, 1955. He portrays himself as almost a passive participant in the creation of his popular pieces. “I take my direction from the silver,” says the Holbrook resident and father of five. “In a sense, it talks to me.”

In the 1980”s he moved to Old Oraibi on the Hopi reservation, where his wife, Margie, had grown up.  “After that I really started creating,” he says. Everything is so calm there, your mind goes to a different level.  It all came to me then.”

Takala is known for his man-in-the-maze design which represents man emerging from the center of the Earth and migrating to the four directions. All his intricate cutting is done by hand.