Emmi Whitehorse (1956- )

Emmi Whitehorse is a Native American painter and printmaker who was born on the Navajo Reservation, near Crownpoint, New Mexico.  Her work can be found in museums worldwide, including the National Museum of the American Indian, the Heard Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, the Whitney Museum, and dozens of others.  She currently lives in Santa Fe.

Growing up, Whitehorse assisted her elders in traditional Navajo tasks like sheepherding and gathering plants for dyes and medicine. As a child of the desert, she learned early the sacred aspect of the life-giving qualities of water and the importance of recognizing and appreciating the beauty of her home. For almost four decades she has been painting her reflections of the world and the beauty she sees in her surroundings.

The artist’s later signature is sometimes seen as just three vertical red lines.