Andrew Sahmie
Melon Eater
9 1/2"
H with 1" base
Born in 1960, Andrew Sahmie
is a Tewa/Hopi Indian artist from First Mesa (Polacca) Arizona.
Like most of the Hopi carvers, he is self-taught in the art,
working from trial and error and watching his older brothers,
Finkle and Randall Sahmie.
Andrew has been carving steadily
since about 1990, and has developed outstanding refinement in
his work. One has only to look at the crook of a finger on his
kachinas to see his concentration and attention to detail.
Creative individuals surround
Andrew; his mother, Priscilla Namingha, and his Navajo wife,
Ida Sahmie, as well as his first cousins Steve Lucas and Dan
Namingha, are all award-winning artists. Andrew's great-great
grandmother was the historic Tewa/Hopi potter Nampeyo.
The always mischievous and
sometimes gluttonous Koshare are perfect satire of normal village
life. Andrew's Koshare are unique in that each has his own distinct
characteristics - and personality. Their facial features, posture,
and body movements tell us so much about the attitude of life
in the Hopi plaza.
"Koshari or Koyala is
the name of a Rio Grande clown that is often seen on the Hopi
Mesas. The Hopis very frequently call this clown the Hano or
Tewa clown as the Tewa of that village seem to have introduced
this personage to the Hopi mesas.
These clowns are considered
to be the fathers of the kachinas. They behave in the usual manner
of pueblo clowns, engaging in loud and boisterous conversation,
immoderate actions, and gluttony.
They are often drummers for
other dances."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (239)
