Diné photographer makes use of risograph to look at gene authenticity

Diné photographer Ryle Yazzie is releasing his first guide titled “Native Genes” that explores authenticity and Americana by self-portraits and risographs. KUNM spoke with Yazzie who stated this venture stemmed from his time working as a photograph assistant in Santa Fe.

RYLE YAZZIE: I might go to those excessive end-stores, and I went to this classic jean retailer, and I might see the costs, and I all the time thought to myself, like, ‘Why? Why are these jeans so expensive?” And so I did a little investigating. And I started to realize that it was sort of the bill quality. There were some like natural patina and wear in it, you can see the history of the jeans, like who previously owned them. And then that got me thinking about my history, like dealing with colonization, forced relocation, genocide. And I was like, ‘well, you know, Natives wear jeans too, why not, kind of promote that history. So you know that dealing with all of those adversities and still being here in the present time, in modern times.

KUNM: So where did you find all these pairs of jeans for your project?

YAZZIE: I just started going to flea markets. I went to the Window Rock, Yá’át’ééh Gallup, flea markets, I went to Shiprock flea market. My plan was to hit all of them. Then I began accumulating denims. And in that course of, I began, like, doing interviews from folks. I used to be shopping for them, and, you recognize, their backstory was actually fascinating. There was a variety of wealthy audio that got here from that and after which from there, I simply form of simply began exploring this concept. I needed it to be much like these jean shops that I see in Santa Fe and so I needed to make a pop-up to theoretically promote these denims. But then I assumed, shops have catalogs? So I began pondering of a catalog, tips on how to put it collectively.

KUNM: What had been among the tales that caught out to you?

YAZZIE: One was a mother that was promoting her son’s denims. I purchased a variety of hers. And once I picked them up, there have been these black denims, however that they had white paint splatters throughout them. And I assumed, properly, I used to be like, ‘Oh, this was interesting.” So I asked her what that was and why she was selling them? And she told me that her son had to move away, sort of from the rez to get work. And he was working, I think in the Phoenix area. But they would always talk on the phone, and she would sit in, you know, he would tell her, “I learned this today.” He’s working construction. He’s like, “Oh, I did this today. And, I’m pretty good at this other thing now.” And that was his process of learning a new skill. And in doing so, that was imprinted on these jeans. And so I thought that that was something so interesting that these jeans had had a life before I purchased them.

KUNM: And what exactly is riso?

YAZZIE: Riso is a Japanese printing technique. It’s like a big copy machine. It uses rice paper and it creates a silk screening process for paper. So you can silk screen on t-shirts and whatnot, and you have to build layers in order to create a fuller image. And that same principle applies to riso. So when you’re creating it in image on riso, it’ll print in channels. So you can create a blue channel, you can create a black channel or a gold channel, and those are the three channels that I’ve been using to make these risos. So it’ll make an imprint with this rice paper, and then it’ll just start printing on there. And it’s almost like a copy machine, where it’ll just print out 100 right away. And then you’ll have that layer, and then you’ll bring in the next layer, and then you print over that same image again, until you create a full image.

KUNM: What are you trying to express through these prints?

YAZZIE: I bring up authenticity, which is a colonizing term. I use terms like 100%, but there’s a thing that I say in there about adaptable to modern times, and that is sort of like brings us all together. You know, we faced all these things, but we’re still here. The thing that I think is very key in this riso is the text, it says “Native genes are authentically American before America. Native genes are rugged in nature, yet adaptable to modern times.” And I feel like that line sort of alludes to the idea of, we’re still here. Like I’m not in my regalia. I’m trying to fit into these modern times, trying to be visible, trying to get proper representation. So that’s also why I put myself in front of the camera and did these self portraits. And as I’m pulling up my pants, that’s a visual indication that things don’t just fit, I’m trying to make them fit. And so there’s just all these sort of things that I’m thinking about.

KUNM: Just the meaning of the name “Native Genes”, because it’s not the pair of jeans the way you spell it’s like, genetic genes, correct?

YAZZIE: Correct, I do a word on play. I use Native Genes. And then how I spell genes is like the genealogy. And this got popularized as soon as I presented this that maybe a week later, that whole Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad came out, and it was just, it was kind of odd, like, just to hear that coincidence of two people that never met. I’m sure it’s not her idea. I’m sure it’s the advertising agency’s idea. But to have this correlation that we were both thinking about this at the exact same time,it’s arduous to elucidate, like how we had been each nearly on the identical degree. Their strategy was totally different. My strategy was to deliver satire and humor into this. That, to me, is the distinction between my and their model.

Ryle Yazzie might be internet hosting a guide launch and exhibit of “Native Genes” on Saturday April 11, 2026 from 5pm-8pm, at Risolana 722 Isleta Blvd. SW Albuquerque, NM 87105.  Yazzie can have an illustration on Sunday April 12, 2026 on tips on how to make images into risograph prints whereas speaking about his course of. Find extra info at risolana.org.