Hopi Painting “Faces of Whippers” [SOLD]

Milland Lomakema (1941- ) Dawakema was a member of the Artist Hopid, a group organized in 1973 by Hopi artists Michael Kabotie, Terrance Talaswaima, and Neil David, Sr.  The objectives of the group were to use Hopi art to instill pride and identity, to educate the world to the aesthetic and cultural values of the Hopi, to develop new ideas in Hopi art, to control the aesthetic for Hopi art, and to document Hopi history through the visual arts. 

Lomakema is 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.  He won first place in the Heard Museum’s National Indian Art Show in 1968 for one of his paintings.  Then in 1969, he won additional prizes for his art and more prizes in 1970 and later.

This painting is titled “Faces of Whippers” which is an indication that they are faces of Whipper Katsinas.  When it is time for whipping the children during ceremonies in the kiva, the Crow Mother and her two sons, the Hu Katsinas, who are the whippers, come rushing toward the kiva. After traditional actions outside the kiva, the whippers enter the kiva and the children are brought to them.  The Whipper Katsinas give each child four strokes with their yucca whips.  They then whip Crow Mother and themselves. The Hu then depart the kiva.

The painting is signed in lower left Dawakema and dated 1977.

Condition:  appears to be in original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from New Mexico

Recommended Reading: Hopi Painting: The World of the Hopis by Patricia Janis Broder