"One Horn Hopi God" 1973 by Milland Lomakema [SOLD]

This painting by Hopi artist Milland Lomakema (1941-2021) Dawakema ("Sun Making Tracks") is an exceptional example of modern Hopi fine art created right at the inception of the historic Artist Hopid movement. The subject is the Hopi One Horn Deity Kwanitaqa.  The composition centers on the iconic sweeping single horn associated with the Hopi One Horn Society (Kwan Society). The One Horn deity is a powerful guardian figure associated with the underworld, spiritual transitions, direction, and protection.

The large, exaggerated horn arches dramatically across the canvas, filled with intricate, stylized textures resembling falling rain, seeds, and tracks (hoof/claw prints) along its path. Prominent terraced formations surround the figure, representing sacred rain clouds and the passage between worlds. Near the bottom stepped terrace, two stylized figures in traditional dress sit bent forward holding staffs or walking sticks, symbolizing Hopi elders, priests, or pilgrims in prayer/contemplation. At the very base, dynamic zig-zag borders evoke flowing water or earth/migration symbols.

As a core element of the Artist Hopid aesthetic, the painting blends traditional kiva-mural and ceremonial iconography with 20th-century geometric abstraction, surrealism, and color field influences. This painting is signed Dawakema '73 in the lower bottom center.

About the Artist: Milland Lomakema

Born at the Hopi Nation, Milland Lomakema was origionally a self-taught artist with no formal training in the arts, although he attended several schools over the years. In the late 1950s, he traveled with an education tour group throughout the east coast of the United States and Canada. In the mid-1960s, he worked with a detective agency in Phoenix, then he joined the Hopi police force in 1968, during which time he devoted most of his spare time to painting. As a founding member of Artist Hopid, formed in 1973 with Michael Kabotie, Terrance Talaswaima, Neil David, Sr. and Delbridge Honanie, his mission was to express Hopi philosophy, document history, and redefine contemporary Native art on their own terms.

Condition: good condition with minor scratches at the edge near the frame

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 Milland Lomakema "One Horn Hopi God" 1973 is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery.

Recommended Reading: Hopi Kachina Dolls with a Key to their Identification, by Harold S. Colton, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque 1959.

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