4 Navajo Sand Paintings

Paintings from Danny Akee and Alex Lee

12" x 12"

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.

Sandpainters

Danny Akee was born at a Pow Wow in Flagstaff in 1951. Danny is Dine (Navajo), his clans are Red Running into the Water People, Tobacco People, The Towering House. And Bitter Water and Salt People. As a kid he used to play with sand, and he would get his designs from his grandmother’s rug designs. He also silversmiths, which he learned from his dad. To Danny’s knowledge his family has been crafting since the beginning of time. His favorite part of the doing his work is doing a clean job.

This sandpainting is by Navajo artist Alex Lee and depicts a popular theme in indigenous art and artwork relating to the American west- The End of the Trail, based on the sculpture of the same name by James Earl Fraser, which was symbolic of the plight of the Native American at the hands of European colonists.

Willing to separate $55 each