Original Painting "Winter Moon" [SOLD]

Helen Hardin, from the very beginning of her career, was at the cutting edge of Indian-influenced art. Her art, though obviously drawing on her Indian heritage and tradition, was very much in the mainstream of modern aesthetics.

Like much of Hardin’s paintings during this period (late 1970s), this one is of a face—the face of the winter moon. Although many of her paintings featured circles, the interior of them were drastically stylized. This image is in a circle comprised of the minutest dots and the face is fragmented and asymmetrical. Perhaps Hardin was subconsciously fashioning her faces based on her early childhood memories of katsina dances at the pueblo with their somewhat unusual masks.

In this painting, Hardin most likely filled the background by spraying paint with an airbrush, and then over-painted the designs and colors in layer after layer of acrylic paint to achieve the opaqueness or solidness she desired.

Hardin struggled with her Indian heritage and her desire to express her artistic self, yet she discovered how to address both. There is no doubt that her art was influenced by her heritage, but one not familiar with that heritage would ever recognize it as such.

These paintings comprised of faces are among the most popular with collectors. This one is signed by the artist in lower right and dated 1976. It is in original excellent condition.

Helen Hardin 1943–1984: A tribute to Tsa-sah-wee-eh, “Little Standing Spruce.” (Click here to learn more. This will take you to another website.).