Delbridge Honanie Painting of a Dual Katsina Face [SOLD]

The painting is a striking example of the mid-1970s Native American modernist movement, displaying the distinct stylistic hallmarks of Hopi Pueblo artist Delbridge Honanie (also known by his Hopi name, Coochsiwukioma or "Falling White Snow").  

The piece beautifully encapsulates the artistic philosophy of Artist Hopid, the groundbreaking collective Honanie co-founded in 1973 alongside Michael Kabotie, Milland Lomakema, Terrance Talaswaima, and Neil David Sr.  

The Subject & Symbolism: The centerpiece of the composition is a highly stylized, abstract depiction inspired by Katsina (Kachina) iconography and ceremonial life. It utilizes a bisected circular motif, a signature element of the Artist Hopid style, balancing contrasting colors, geometric forms, and textures to explore concepts of duality, order, and harmony.  

Texture and Technique: True to Honanie's preferred style during the 1970s, the canvas utilizes an impasto technique where paint is applied thickly to create deep physical texture and tactile patterns across both the central figure and the background.  A soft gray-blue background is filled with layered, low-relief geometric line work, referencing traditional Hopi pottery designs, prehistoric kiva mural fragments (such as those from Awat'ovi), and rain, cloud, or agricultural symbols.  

The Artist Hopid Influence: The group of five Hopi young men broke away from the two-dimensional "Santa Fe Indian School style" of Native art. Instead, they chose to combine ancient ancestral iconography from Kiva murals with mainstream contemporary influences like European Cubism and mid-century Modernism. This synthesis is on full display in  this painting where traditional cultural motifs are reimagined into a sophisticated, abstract graphic layout.  

Delbridge Honanie was born in 1946 in Winslow, Arizona.  He grew up at the Hopi Second Mesa village of Shungopavi, and attended the Phoenix Indian Day School in the 1960s, and then to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe.  Honanie was named an Arizona Indian Living Treasure in 2006. Honanie was a founding member of Artist Hopid, a group of five Hopi artists who banded to work to educate the public to the values and identity of the Hopi people through various art media.  Other members of Artist Hopid were Terrance Talaswaima, Milland Lomakema, Michael Kabotie and Neil David, Sr.

What is a Katsina? 

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Delbridge Honanie Painting of a Dual Katsina Face was sold to a client of Adobe Gallery in 2016 from whom we now have it back to share with a new generation.

Recommended Reading: Hopi Painting: the World of the Hopis by Patricia Janis Broder.

TAGS: Hopi Pueblo, Santa Fe, Otellie Loloma, Terrance Talaswaima, Michael Kabotie, Neil David, Sr., Native American Paintings, Katsina Dolls, Delbridge Honanie