Kachina c. 20th century

This Hopi Kachina figure, was painted by Hopituh Shinumu, and I love how the artist has managed to create something so striking with fairly simple materials. I can only imagine the maker carefully carving the wood, building up the figure layer by layer, and patiently painting these flat planes. It’s amazing how the color contributes to the overall feel—a kind of calm intensity, achieved with just blue, white, red, and black. The light blue skin is punctuated by bold geometric shapes. Check out that star on the chest! It feels both ancient and modern, kinda punk. And then there’s the adornment—feathers, fur, and what looks like a bit of string. It’s like the artist is bringing together all these different elements from their environment and synthesizing them into something new. It reminds me of how artists throughout time have looked to their world for inspiration. It's this ongoing conversation that we're all a part of, grappling with the same questions, in our own way.