Importance of Materials in the Native American Art

Native American artists have always been known for producing art pieces that reflected their culture and environment. Navajo people worked with materials natural to their respective homelands, which reflects in their work. Peoples staying in heavily forested regions, for instance, inevitably became naturally gifted sculptors in wood; those living in the grasslands became fine basket weavers, and Navajo people for whom clay was a major resource became skillful potters. Jade, turquoise, stone, milkweed fiber, birch bark, shell, metals, deer hair, llama dung, porcupine quills,sea lion whiskers— there is virtually no natural medium that has not been explored and mastered by the Native American artists. All these materials were used by artists to add color, design, and texture to the finished product. Such was the popularity of materials that they became desired commodities in themselves, and were traded over great distances. In fact, there were certain objects which were not regarded as “official”, especially for religious purposes unless they were manufactured from a particular material. A substitute never made sense to the Navajo people and could not be tolerated back in those days. For this reason, it can be said that the materials had a significant value—not only within the culture, but the economy as well.

Though the community was a part of the American culture, however, the relationship between material and design in Native American art was very different from that in the Western tradition. Unlike Navajo artists, western artists used to “impose” a design on the artificially limited surface of a flat, rectangular canvas. Similarly, sculptors followed predetermined spatial arrangements, and imposed a shape on their material. On the other hand, the Navajo artists and sculptors had a different approach. They did not like to force their materials to conform to a preconceived design. Instead, they used to adapt their design to the natural outlines of their materials. You will often find a complete and therefore, irregular buffalo hide, a tree branch, or a stone. This naturalism reflected in the Navajo art was and still is one of its most pleasing aspects and often demonstrates the artist’s amazing ability to incorporate the natural form into his creations.

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Author’s Bio – The author is a blogger. This article is about importance of materials in Navajo art.