Star Liana York’s energy knows no bounds. Neither does her talent.
She’s not only been creating award-winning sculptures for more than four decades, she also owns and runs a ranch with her husband and operates an Airbnb. After competing in horse events and breeding and training horses for many years, she has set that aside. There are, after all, only so many hours in a day, most of which York fills with creating magnificent sculptures that have earned her countless awards and are treasured by collectors.
York’s monumental sculptures are placed at sites throughout the country that include the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.; the Miami (Florida) Zoo; the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico; and the University of New Mexico Cancer Center. Her smaller pieces are equally treasured and have found places of honor in public and private collections.
Read the full article in the July/August 2022 issue.
Big Medicine
Bronze
14″ by 25″ by 15.5″
“The birth of a white buffalo is so rare that it is a great event and portends grand blessings to come. This sculpture of the rare white buffalo is named after the best-known white buffalo our country has known. Big Medicine was born in 1933 on a Montana Indian reservation and grew to remarkable proportions. He was 6 feet at his hump and 12 feet long from nose to tail. It is the strong positive symbolism that inspired me to create this sculpture.
“The bison not only has represented abundance and self-sacrifice to Plains indigenous peoples but, with the white buffalo, the promise of a good future and restored balance to the world.”
Numero Uno
Bronze
22.5″ by 16″ by 7.5″
“This cowboy is in his prime in confidence and physical acuity. He has taken on one of the most dangerous sports possible; rodeo bull riding—mounting 2,000 pounds of horns, hooves, muscle, and mean with the intention to stay glued on for eight seconds, an ambition that comes from a sense of invulnerability that accompanies proven ability and being familiar with achieving the status of ‘Number One.’”
