Speaking With Stones

It can be said that the story of Dinè and Ute artist Bo Joe resembles the movements of a river—winding, unpredictable, finding their course through persistence and the quiet pull of something larger. Born in Shiprock, New Mexico, among the sandstone monuments and open skies of the Dinè Nation, he grew up in a household where art was less an aspiration than an atmosphere. His father, an accomplished sculptor, raised his children in the presence of tools, stones, and the discipline of making. By the time Bo recognized his artistic ability, it felt less like discovery and more like the inheritance of a language already encoded, waiting to be spoken.

Yet his early adulthood took him far from the Four Corners. Drawn first to music, he left home for Los Angeles, where he spent nearly a decade working inside the frenetic world of recording studios. His days blurred into long nights, tracking major artists, assisting on the kinds of projects that shape culture without ever showing the hands behind them. Eventually, he moved to Chicago, where the work was intense, consuming, and ultimately unsustainable. A life-threatening decline in his health forced him to stop, and really listen to what his body, and spirit, were telling him. Returning home to heal, he stepped back into community, into ceremony, into the grounded world he had nearly left behind.

What emerged from that period was the beginning of a new path. His father showed him the  ancestral technique of tufa casting, pouring molten silver into hand-carved volcanic stone molds. The process was elemental, unpredictable, and challenging, just like the landscape that shaped it. In this discipline, Bo found not only a medium but a mirror, a way to honor tradition while carving his own design language into being.

In time, his jewelry began to carry the unmistakable mark of an artist in conversation with both past and present. Turquoise—in all its spiritual and material significance within Dinè culture—became central to his work. Commissions increased with every art fair, and in 2014 the Claggett/Rey Gallery in Colorado’s Vail Valley became an early champion of his vision. With their support, his pieces traveled farther, reaching audiences beyond the Southwest.

In 2018, Bo Joe established the Sacred Youth Foundation, a program built around an annual three-day workshop in Shiprock that brings professional Indigenous artists together to teach Diné youth the fundamentals of traditional art. For Bo, the work is a way of nurturing identity and passing forward the cultural knowledge that shaped his own life and practice.

Following both a personal pull toward his partner Elisa and a desire to expand the reach of his work, Bo moved to Sheridan, Wyoming in 2020. Elisa, whose presence Bo credits with rekindling his sense of purpose, helped sharpen his artistic focus, deepen his spirituality, and restore the confidence that had once wavered under the weight of illness and uncertainty. In the quiet of Sheridan, supported by her belief in his gift, his work entered a new phase—more intentional, more rooted. Still, the mission remained unchanged: the balanced pursuit of personal growth, cultural heritage, and artistic expression. 

Then, in 2022, a chance meeting in Jackson Hole with Jacques Marie Mage founder Jérôme Mage created an unexpected opportunity. What began as a conversation at an art show has now culminated in a limited-edition collection of eyewear and jewelry rooted in heritage, craftsmanship, and a rare confluence of natural events—including an unprecedented discovery of Apache Blue turquoise, the kind of geological blessing that might not occur again for generations.

What follows is an excerpted conversation with Bo Joe—on instinct, collaboration, turquoise, and the responsibility of carrying culture forward.

JMM: So how did you and Jérôme first connect, and how did the collaboration begin?

BO JOE: I was showing my work at an art fair in Jackson Hole, where I’d won an award for one of my designs, and someone directed Jérôme to my booth. He came up, and we just had a conversation. He had questions about the artwork, and he offered me an invitation to collaborate pretty much on the spot. Not knowing anything about eyewear or the brand, and him meeting me in the moment and offering the invitation to work together—I thought that was pretty cool. I was impressed by his instincts, and by his ability to see something in my work, and was honored to be invited.

JMM: As an artist, and especially an Indigenous artist, requests to collaborate often come with strings attached. What made this one feel right?

BO JOE: What are the intentions? That’s always the question that quickly enters my mind. But when I learned more about the brand and dove into its stewardship efforts, especially those related to the Last Frontier collection, I got a sense of how Jérôme and the brand appreciated and represented the culture. And Jérôme gave me creative freedom to express what I felt should be expressed culturally. That spoke loudly to me and allowed me to feel comfortable and confident and trust that what I’m going to offer will be in a safe place.

JMM: You’ve described the timing of the project as deeply connected to an extraordinary turquoise discovery. Can you talk about that?

BO JOE: The opportunity we received with the Apache Blue turquoise is unprecedented. For the timing of this project to coincide with what the earth literally gave us is something that you can’t explain or ask for. It’s a very special circumstance, one that provided for a very special intersection of Jérôme’s vision with mine.

JMM: Much of your work centers on turquoise. How do you approach working with the material?

BO JOE: An incredible jeweler named Sonwei, a Hopi artist whose uncle is the renowned jeweller Charles Loloma, told me early on to “talk to the stones.” You need to talk and listen to the stones. I didn’t really know what she meant at the time. Then one day I was cutting turquoise and realized I was communicating with the stones. Now, that’s literally what I do: I talk to them and they talk to me, and I’m just helping them find their way. I have the ability to let things pass through me, and they find their way.

JMM: What does it mean for your work—and your message—to reach a larger, global audience through this collaboration?

BO JOE: Thanks to Jérôme and JMM, my art and my message is able to reach many more people that may be curious about where I come from, who I am, and the work that I do. And that is a sacred thing in itself, to be able to share all that. I hold that really high and dear to my heart, because that comes from a place where I feel that I’m honoring my ancestors and my people in this special way.

JMM: Can you talk about how your belief in the healing and educational power of art has shaped your work at The Sacred Youth Foundation? 

BO JOE: A big part of the program is self-identity. I can recall growing up and seeing designs and artwork, and not understanding what those symbols mean. If we can provide that to the youth — to maybe plant that recognition of self-identity earlier — that’s the bigger picture. 

I’m trying to help others connect with who they are and where they come from. I share things through my art that help people recognize themselves within the culture. That’s the balance I try to maintain.

JMM: As an artist, how do you think about your role in artisanship, culture, and commerce?

BO JOE: I don’t feel like I’m controlling anything—I’m just helping things go where they need to go. I’m grateful for that. That’s my ability, and I recognize that. Everything I do comes back to balance, whether cultural, spiritual, or material. This is the essence of hózhó, the Dinè idea of everything moving in balance all at one time.