"War Twin with Spiral" 1976 by Delbridge Honanie [SOLD]

This 1976 watercolor painting is by Delbridge Honanie (1946-2017) Coochsiwukioma ("Falling White Snow"), a renowned Hopi artist, carver, and founding member of the influential Artist Hopid collective formed in 1973. The composition balances soft, diffused background washes with crisp, graphic ink line-work and precise iconography, characteristic of Honanie's painterly style during the mid-to-late 1970s.

The central figure running clockwise around the spiral is a stylized Hopi figure/runner. He is depicted with a brown body adorned with white oval body paint, a distinctive conical cyan/turquoise head covering topped with a single feather, and an expressive facial gesture. Created in 1976, during the peak period of the Artist Hopid movement (alongside Michael Kabotie, Terrance Talaswaima, Milland Lomakema, and Neil David Sr.). The group sought to combine modernist design sensibilities — such as abstract backgrounds, dynamic geometry, and subtle color fields — with deep, authentic Hopi symbolism, oral history, and ceremonial life. This painting is signed D. Coochsiwukioma '76 in the bottom corner. His traditional Hopi name was received upon his initiation into the Hopi Men's Society in 1972.

The Spiral and Dotted Path

The background features soft, expanding concentric rings and a prominent spiral composed of radiating color washes (pinks, soft yellows, blues, and earth tones). Superimposed across the spiral is a distinct path of black dotted footprints/tracks cutting diagonally across the composition, symbolic of migration, spiritual journeys, and the passage of time across the Hopi ceremonial calendar.

The Central Altar / Shrine Structure

At the center of the vortex rests a raised, stepped brick architectural altar or shrine structure with ceremonial staffs/upright sticks projecting upward. Dotted trail lines intersect at this central focal point, indicating a sacred emergence, origin point (Sipapu), or ceremonial center.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: Displayed in the special exhibit Ancestral Symbols, Modern Masterpieces: Documenting the Sacred Narratives and History of the Hopi People at Adobe Gallery for its 50^th Anniversary Landmark Exhibition in Santa Fe, NM, May – October 2026. This painting by Delbridge Honanie "War Twin with Spiral" 1976 is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery.

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