The Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos has opened a posthumous retrospective dedicated to DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo, a rising Indigenous artist who was tragically killed in 2021 at the age of 29. The exhibition, titled "Honoring DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo," features over 20 works including large-format paintings, ledger drawings, and the first public display of illustrations from her children’s book, "Taos Pueblo Fall." The show highlights her unique aesthetic, which blended her Taos Pueblo and Diné heritage with influences from Japanese anime and manga.
This exhibition serves as both a celebration of a significant emerging talent and a somber reminder of the epidemic of domestic violence in Native communities. By collaborating closely with Suazo’s family and the Taos Pueblo community, the museum aims to provide a platform for her storytelling—which focused on authentic, non-romanticized depictions of daily Pueblo life—while addressing the social issues that led to her untimely death. Suazo was a recognized figure in the Southwest art scene, having been a SITE Santa Fe Scholar and a regular participant in the Santa Fe Indian Market.