Faust Gallery
Michael Kabotie
Lomawywesa · Hopi · 1942–2009
Son of Fred Kabotie
Michael was born on September 3, 1942, at Shungopavi on Second Mesa, a member of the Snow Clan. His mother, Alice Talayaonema Kabotie, was a basket weaver. His father, Fred Kabotie, was one of the most celebrated Hopi painters of the 20th century. Fred painted the Hopi Room murals in the Desert View Watchtower at the Grand Canyon, and after World War II he helped develop the Hopi overlay technique and helped found the Hopi Silvercraft Guild.
Michael studied art with his father at Hopi High School. Later, he graduated from Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1961. He began engineering studies at the University of Arizona but left to focus on art.
Discovering the Awatovi Murals
In the summers of 1960 and 1961, Michael attended the Southwest Indian Art Project at the University of Arizona, alongside artists such as Fritz Scholder, Helen Hardin, and Charles Loloma. There, the Cochiti painter Joe Herrera became his lifelong friend and mentor. Herrera introduced him to the ancient kiva murals of Awatovi, a Hopi village site, and those paintings shaped Michael’s art for the rest of his life.
His career started quickly. He held an early one-man show at the Heard Museum, and his work appeared on the cover of Arizona Highways. In 1967, he was initiated into the Wuwtsim society and received the name Lomawywesa.
Artist Hopid
In 1973, Michael co-founded Artist Hopid with fellow painters Delbridge Honanie, Milland Lomakema, Terrance Talaswaima, and Neil David Sr. He served as the group’s spokesman. Together, they set out to reinterpret traditional Hopi imagery in a contemporary voice, and the group exhibited and worked together through the 1970s.
Michael also painted large public works. With Delbridge Honanie, he created Journey of the Human Spirit, now in the Kiva Gallery at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. He also painted murals for the Sunset Crater Volcano visitor center and designed a gate for the Heard Museum in the style of overlay jewelry.
Overlay Jewelry
Michael learned silverwork as a teenager, first from Hotevilla silversmith Wallie Sekayumptewa in 1958 and at the Hopi Guild workshop his father helped found. However, he did not turn to jewelry seriously until the late 1970s, and it then became his livelihood. He signed his silver with his Hopi name, “Lomawywesa,” in cursive.
His jewelry stands apart from traditional Hopi overlay. Instead of a single centered symbol, he composed each piece like a small painting, with shapes that overlap and lead the eye across the surface. He also took overlay into three dimensions, building squared, hollow forms that most Hopi jewelers would not attempt. For many years, he taught Hopi overlay at the Idyllwild Arts summer program in California.
Poet and Teacher
Michael wrote poetry and essays as well. In 1987, the UCLA American Indian Studies Center published his book Migration Tears: Poems About Transitions. He lectured and exhibited in the United States, Europe, South America, and New Zealand, and he worked with Indigenous artists in New Zealand, Brazil, and Mexico. Beginning in 1996, he also shared canvases with painter Jack Dauben.
Legacy
In 2003, Michael received the Arizona Indian Living Treasure Award. His work belongs to the Heard Museum, the British Museum, and other collections in the United States and Europe. He died in Flagstaff on October 23, 2009, at age 67. Today, his paintings and silver remain a bridge between the ancient Awatovi muralists and contemporary Hopi art.
