By Cyrus Guccione
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Bringing to life the traditions of his ancestors, the work of Hopi artist Travis Tubinaghtewa is currently featured at the L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum and Exploration Center.

Free to view in the museum’s main gallery, Tubinaghtewa’s work can be viewed for free through Thursday, March 29.

Depicting Hopi culture

Tubinaghtewa’s exhibit is titled, “We Are Still Here - Sharing the Hopi Story.”

“I feel that by saying, ‘We are still here,’ is kind of implying that we’re still carrying on our ancient traditions and teachings and passing down the knowledge from the old generation until now,” Tubinaghtewa said, whose father Buddy Tubinaghtewa, a decorated Katsina carver, inspired his son to explore his creative side.

Tubinaghtewa attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., and is a graduate of Fine Arts at Phoenix College.

Despite his formal education, Tubinaghtewa says much of his work is from memories of his childhood.

“My family is heavily involved with our culture,” Tubinaghtewa said. “The whole ceremonial calendar, we went through it, including the simpler stuff all the way up to the day’s long ceremonies.”

Depicting ceremonial dances and symbolism of the Hopi, Tubinaghtewa’s work is deeply personal and spiritually significant.

In Hopi, “Tubinaghtewa” means, “Butterflies chasing each other,” which Tubinaghtewa manifests in many of his paintings.

Pigments of home

Tubinaghtewa uses a mixture of acrylic and a traditional earth pigment called Tuuma, a powdered clay found in several natural deposits on the Hopi reservation used for Katsina carvings, clothing and decoration.

The mineral is ground into a pigment powder which adds depth and meaning to Tubinaghtewa’s work.

“I’m adding a little bit of home into my paintings because that’s a powder pigment that comes directly from my reservation that people process with their own hands and put a lot of work into,” Tubinaghtewa said. “It’s really smooth and creates a really nice look for the pieces.”

Tubinaghtewa says Tuuma can be difficult to come by, especially since the one store he purchased it from on the Hopi reservation has closed.

For his birthday, Tubinaghtewa’s parents gifted him a large amount of Tuuma which he uses with care.

“You can keep the same bag of paints for literally years and years and the pigment will remain just as fine as the day you got it,” Tubinaghtewa said.

The Katsina spirit

Cloaked and masked in ghostly garments, Tubinaghtewa depicts the Katsina as spirits on the move, in prayer or back from the hunt.

The Katsina are often misconstrued as gods, says Tubinaghtewa. In reality, they are spirit messengers that reflect the unbreakable connection between spirituality and the natural environment.

Different Katsinas also represent different things, Tubinaghtewa said: birds, water, cactus, buffalo – Katsinas carry prayers for the Hopi back to their home in the sacred volcanic mountain range in the San Francisco Peaks.

“I try to capture the ethereal sense of the Katsina, almost like a spirit emerging from the darkness,” Tubinaghtewa said.

In his paintings, Tubinaghtewa hopes his audience can appreciate his depictions of a spiritually rich culture and the beauty of things seen and unseen.

“My paintings capture a lot of my thoughts and prayers, wants and wishes,” Tubinaghtewa said. “I want to capture the beauty in life.”

To see more of Travis Tubinaghtewa’s work, visit his Facebook or Instagram pages @Trav_The Artist. Tubinaghtewa’s work is also currently exhibited at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

The River of Time Museum & Exploration Center is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information can be found at riveroftime.center.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Cyrus Guccione can be reached at cguccione@iniusa.org.