Mimbres Kokopelli Etching by Helen Hardin

Originating with the Hopis and widely known today around the Southwest, the Kokopelli is a legend dating back over 3,000 years, when the first petroglyphs were carved. He is traditionally depicted as a humpback flute player, and is known as a symbol of fertility, replenishment, music, dance, and mischief. Some portrayals may be particularly more obscene than others, and this fascinating etching made by famed Santa Clara painter Helen Hardin could certainly be considered graphic.

The piece contains a circular, symmetrical design which features triangular and diamond shapes on the top and bottom, and a checkerboard pattern on the sides. In the middle of the circle is the kokopelli figure.

This is a piece which Hardin created at the very end of her unfortunately short life. It happens to also be the only piece signed Helen Hardin, rather than her usual Tewa name, Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh which means "little standing spruce". This is because it was signed by her daughter, Margarete Bagshaw. Hardin was too ill to sign it and Margarete signed using Hardin's English name in order to indicate that she was the one who signed it.

Helen Hardin (1943-1984) Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh was an innovative and influential painter from Santa Clara Pueblo. Hardin was born in 1943 to Santa Clara Pueblo painter Pablita Velarde and Caucasian civil servant Herbert Hardin. Inspired by her mother, she began creating and selling paintings as a teenager. She went in a different direction than her mother and her mother's peers, creating more contemporary works that depict Native American symbology with striking geometrical patterns and abstract imagery. She died of cancer in 1984, leaving behind an astounding body of work for her many admirers to enjoy.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Mimbres Kokopelli Etching by Helen Hardin is from a client of Adobe Gallery

Recommended Reading:  Changing Woman: The Life and Art of Helen Hardin by Jay Scott

TAGS: Helen Hardin, Santa Clara Pueblo, Pablita Velarde, Native American symbols, Native American Paintings, Acoma Pueblo