The style of Navajo sand paintings focuses heavily on line and symbol. The original application of sand paintings, as a medicine and ceremony, can be seen as treating these visual elements as mediums of sanctity and healing. Though I strongly wish to avoid using elements of authentic sand paintings meant not for decoration but for ceremony, I want to express this sentiment in my own interpretations.
In this piece, I thought about the most striking parts of a sand painting to me. My favorites are the faces of the Holy People, with flat rectangular or round globe heads that connect to their upright bodies.
Another fascinating element is the graphic linework that is meticulously curved with great consistency that give the impression of these long beautiful figures.
This is a sand painting rug, which unites two iconic mediums that are significant to the Navajo people. Notice the long skinny body of the Holy Person which contains the composition.
Considering this body, I was interested in how far the body could be simplified and then manipulated and still come across as representing a body. Key concepts include to face, hands, and feet, which the Holy Person maintains in this image.
I decided to use primary colors to create unity between the lines that run from head to feet on this Holy Person, but played with lines to add depth and give the impression of twists, almost like bulging intestines, in this Holy Person. The area of black value looks like a body dissolving, giving way to the engorged contents which spill out.
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