Landscape Collage

Artist Dan Namingha born 1950 Keams Canyon, Arizona; lives Santa Fe, New Mexico

Date1978

Mediumcollage on paper

Dimensions29 1/2 × 22 1/2 in. (74.9 × 57.2 cm)

ClassificationsCollage, Montage, & Assemblage

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Robert and Charlotte Kornstein

Object numberPC2001.80.1

DescriptionA collage on paper with several horizontal layers made of different materials and colors. At the top is a strip of black, then blue, purple, brown, and red. Different types of handmade paper and burlap are glued throughout and the image is colored with shades of browns and yellows.

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Exhibition: New Mexico Landscapes, on view September 3, 2022 - March 19, 2023

Dan Namingha’s Landscape Collage depicts familiar landforms but uses abstraction and layering to transform the scene. Namingha typically begins his process with a realistic image of the land and works to break down the scene into “the core form of the landscape.” Mesas and valleys become stylized, depicted as lines with circular dips. Many elements and shapes like circles, squares, dark semi circles, and bold lines bear symbolic meaning in the Pueblo and Hopi spiritual traditions that Namingha maintains through his artwork.

In Landscape Collage, these shapes also resemble the landforms that are typical to the Southwest infusing the landscape with Namingha’s personal sense of spirituality. The work also incorporates different textures with material like burlap and handmade paper which add to an impression of a microscopic view of the landscape alongside distant vistas.

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