2 Navajo Dine' Southwest Sand Paintings Art Figures Pair Native American 17"

Description

Most art authorities concede that the Southwestern sand paintings produced by the Navajo
are the intricate, complex and beautiful art-forms.

The Diné is the Navajo name for themselves and the term they use for sand painting is
'iikááh, which means a "place where the gods come and go."

Sand paintings are paintings made by sprinkling dry sands colored with natural pigments onto
a board or the ground for ceremonial purposes to heal the sick. It is believed that sand
paintings allow the patient to absorb the powers depicted in the grains of sand.

The pigment colors used by the Navajo are gathered in the surrounding desert. It is mostly
colored sandstone which is then ground to form a fine powder. The colors are mostly red,
brown, and ochre-yellow because these are the colors found in sandstone within the tribal
areas. They usually include crushed charcoal which is mixed with sand to produce the color
black. They sometimes us yellow cornmeal, pollen from plants, and crushed flowers to the
sand painting.

Condition

Gently Used
See Pictures

Dimensions

17.25" x 14.25" x 1"
Sans frame - 15.5" x 12.5"
(L x W x H)