Navajo Sandpainting

Description

Signed Navajo sand painting. Mixed media. Sunset native cowboy.

12″ X 12″

Native American sandpainting. There are 600 to 1,000 different traditional designs for sandpaintings known to the Navajo. They do not view the paintings as static objects, but as spiritual, living beings to be treated with great respect. More than 30 different sandpaintings may be associated with one ceremony.

Navajo Sandpaintings, also called dry paintings, are called “places where the gods come and go” in the Navajo language. They are used in curing ceremonies in which the gods’ help is requested for harvests and healing. The figures in sand paintings are symbolic representations of a story in Navajo mythology.

“Although many ancient sandpaintings designs and their accompanying chants have been lost to time, others remain a vital part of Navajo religious practice and have emerged as a dynamic art form. Navajo artists now incorporate heroes, gods, traditional design icons, and landscape features from their homeland into stunning, contemporary.”