Ceremonial Dance Scene by Milland Lomakema [SOLD]

This original painting was created in 1981 by Milland Lomakema of Hopi Pueblo. Lomakema worked with skill and style, while also managing to incorporate the traditional symbology and kachina imagery that defines Hopi artwork. With this piece, he offered a ceremonial dance scene, a view of the pueblo's architecture, and a variety of colorful abstract elements.

Two rows of kachinas appear, beginning with large, detailed figures in the foreground. As the figures repeat into the distance, their colors shift, and the details become obscured. Eventually, they turn into abstract elements, which echo the tabletas' forms while blending in with the right-angled shapes of the buildings in the background. This is an inventive composition, and it comes together beautifully.

The standing figures are Hemis Katsinam, which are common subjects in Hopi artwork because of both physical beauty and cultural significance. They hold rattles and evergreen boughs as they perform their dance. The kneeling figures are the Hemis Mana Katsinam. They play traditional percussion instruments known as rasps, which are composed of resonating gourds, notched sticks, and sheep scapulas. The scapula is pressed to and slid along the notched stick, laying atop the gourd, which serves as a resonating chamber.

The painting is signed by the artist and dated 81 in lower right. It is framed in a simple, high quality wood frame, with a thin fabric mat.

Milland Lomakema (1941-2021) 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 was 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. He continued receiving recognition and awards for his work, and is today considered to be an important part of an influential group of artists.

What is a Katsina?

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Ceremonial Dance Scene by Milland Lomakema is from the collection of a Dr. Lowell Bean, a notable California-based anthropologist, professor, and writer

Reference: Kachinas: a Hopi artist’s documentary by Barton Wright

TAGS: Kachina – Katsina Doll, Hopi Pueblo, Milland Lomakema, Michael Kabotie, Terrance Talaswaima, Neil David, Sr., Native American Painting