Bronze Sculpture of Angak’china (Long Hair Katsina) [SOLD]

When gentle rains fall in the desert, they often make a low rasping sound as they strike brush and dusty earth.  Falling from the great height of visible cumulus clouds, they seem to comb the earth with wide, sweeping strokes.  So, too, when the Angak'china or Long Hair Katsina—the bringer of gentle rains and flowers—comes to the Hopi mesas, it is with hand-held gourds that make a low grating noise, a surprising but not-unwelcome undertone in the Niman Home Dances.

This katsina's hair streams down his back and blows out in the wind.  Uncut in the back and with long-sideburns, the hair represents ancient wisdom and many experiences.  His long beard represents falling rain.  Angak'china is a kind being whose singing is melodic and pleasant to the ear.  Appearing immediately before the katsinas go home to their mountains, he bears witness to the fact that old forms of ceremony are followed correctly and respectfully.

This bronze interpretation of Angak'china was cast from a cottonwood-carved katsina doll executed by Hopi artist Lowell Talashoma, Sr. in the early 1980s.  The wood carving was cut into several pieces in order to make appropriate molds for casting the bronze.  This bronze was cast in 1983 in an edition of 35 of which this is number 28.

This limited edition bronze is the manifestation of an artistic eye and vision that spans two cultures.  Lowell was unusual in having spent many of his childhood years in the care of foster parents who raised him in a Mormon home.  Becoming Hopi meant for Lowell accepting a new reality and set of beliefs as well as coming to understand the traditions, ceremonies, languages and social customs implicit in his choice.  Lowell returned to his Hopi beginnings and remained on the reservation for the remainder of his life.

Condition:  original condition

Provenance:  from the estate of a California family

Recommended Reading: Kachinas: a Hopi Artist's Documentary by Barton Wright