Faust Gallery
Sonwai (Verma Nequatewa)
Charles Loloma and Sonwai
Sonwai is the artistic name of Verma Nequatewa, one of the foremost Native American lapidary artists working today. The niece and longtime apprentice of the legendary Charles Loloma, she signs her work Sonwai, the feminine Hopi word for beauty, the counterpart to Loloma, the masculine word that was her uncle's name.
Working primarily in 18-karat gold set with the finest turquoise, coral, lapis, and sugilite, she hand-cuts each stone and fits the pieces together like a puzzle into the luminous stone-to-stone inlay that has become her signature. In 2018, the Heard Museum honored her with a retrospective, Sonwai: The Jewelry of Verma Nequatewa.
"Often, it is the stones that tell me what to do with the inlay. I work with them to help them become what they can be."
— Sonwai
Sonwai, 18k gold and inlay