Katsinas Unique Author Sculptures

The Armory Show, NY, 2021
Courtesy of the artist and Proyectos Monclova Gallery
Photo by Mikhail Mishin

A kachina; also katchina, katcina, or katsina; Hopi: katsina, plural katsinim is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo peoples, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In the Pueblo cultures, kachina rites are practiced by the Hopi, Zuni, Hopi-Tewa, and certain Keresan tribes, as well as in most Pueblo tribes in New Mexico.

The kachina concept has three different aspects: the supernatural being, the kachina dancers, and kachina dolls (small dolls carved in the likeness of the kachina, that are given only to those who are, or will be responsible for the respectful care and well-being of the doll, such as a mother, wife, or sister).

“While researching on the work of Alexander Girard, almost 20 years ago, I came up with an image of his Santa Fe house that caught my attention. In that picture you could see an entire wall of shelves displaying Kachinas, at the time I did not knew a lot about them but I was intrigued by their shapes and colors, they seem so close to Mexican expressions of Prehispanic influence and so close to many of our crafts, but I was sure that they were not part of any Mexican culture.

After learning about Kachinas I started turning pieces in different types of wood, I work exclusively with a simplified version of their contour. I was inspired by them but did not want to appropriate in any way their own art, craft or symbolism. I did a series of abstractions based on their siluetes adding my own color configurations. For Nouvel I did the same process but applied to glass using 4 different molds. The final pieces are modular geometrical elements of color that when stacked they create an antropomorphical figure that acquire a luminous and colorful presence.

Ultimately they are homage to the expressions of the south-western Pueblos of North America, specifically the Hopi and the Zuni.”

Edgar Orlaineta

For acquisition or information about availability please write to info@nouvel.glass
Likewise, the pieces are now physically shown in collaboration with Proyectos Monclova Gallery in Mexico City.

Related Exhibitions

The Armory Show, NY, 2021
Art Basel, Miami Beach, Florida, 2021