Milland Lomakema “Two Geometric Longhairs“

This painting, by Milland Lomakema (1941-2021), also known by his Hopi name Dawakema (often translated as "Sun House" or "Sun Making Tracks") features two facing Long Hair Katsinas. The painting perfectly exemplifies the Artist Hopid ethos, traditionally influenced but radically presented. 

The composition features two mirrored figures split by a clean vertical line down the center. Rather than rendering the Katsinas in a traditional, naturalistic style, Lomakema relied heavily on hard-edged geometric forms, crisp line work, and complex blocking to construct their forms.

The stylized figures represent the Longhair Katsina, a benevolent spirit highly revered in Hopi culture for bringing rain and moisture to ensure bountiful crops. Key identifying features of the Longhair Katsinas are adapted into Lomakema's geometric style:

The long, straight hair (symbolizing falling rain) is represented by rigid vertical lines framing their rectangular face. The long beard, traditionally decorated with feathers, is transformed into a sleek, elongated rectangular block extending down from the chin, textured with dense vertical lines.

Reoccurring stylized feather motifs extend outward from behind the figures' head. The characteristic horizontal bar eyes and simple block mouth are rendered using clean, minimalist geometric cutouts.

The painting is executed on a textured canvas board, providing a natural, sand-like background texture that contrasts beautifully with the flat, smooth applications of acrylic pigment.

At the very top, framing the figures, are classic stylized terrace/step motifs representing clouds and lightning. 

The lower section of the painting forms a unified, rounded shield shape adorned with traditional Pueblo geometric steps (representing clouds) and black-and-white vertical stripes (evoking falling rain). Rich earth tones, — including ochre, terracotta red, turquoise blue, and deep purple — ground the spiritual subject matter within the landscape of the Southwest mesas. 

This piece was created in 1973, the exact year the groundbreaking collective Artist Hopid was formed. It is signed "Milland Lomakema Sr. Hopi '73" in the lower right corner. 

Along with fellow members Michael Kabotie and Neil David Sr., Lomakema co-founded the group to push the boundaries of traditional Hopi art. Their goal was to use contemporary aesthetic movements (such as Cubism and geometric abstraction) to interpret ancient, sacred cultural imagery, radically presenting traditional Hopi values to a wider global audience. 

Milland Lomakema was born in the village of Shungopovi (Second Mesa) at Hopi Pueblo in Arizona, Lomakema was a self-taught artist. Before committing fully to art, he served as a detective in Phoenix and a Hopi tribal police officer.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: the original painting by Milland Lomakema "Two Geometric Longhairs" is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery

Recommended Reading and Reference: Broder, Patricia Janis. Hopi Painting: The World of the Hopis, Brandywine Press, New York. 1978

TAGS: Hopi Pueblo, Michael Kabotie, Terrance Talaswaima, Neil David, Sr., Native American Painting, Milland Lomakema