The Impact of Visual Culture on the Art and Identity of Four Hopi Artists
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MYTHIC ARCHAEOLOGIES: THE IMPACT OF VISUAL CULTURE ON THE ART AND IDENTITY OF FOUR HOPI ARTISTS Lori J. Santos, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2011 APPROVED: Rina Kundu, Major Professor Christina Bain, Co-Major Professor Connie Newton, Committee Member Denise Baxter, Interim Chair of the Division of Art Education and Art History Robert W. Milnes, Dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Santos, Lori J. Mythic archaeologies: The impact of visual culture on the art and identity of four Hopi artists. Doctor of Philosophy (Art Education), August 2011, 203 pp., 15 illustrations, reference list, 235. This qualitative critical ethnography examines how visual culture impacted the identity and art of four Hopi artists. Sources of data included a personal journal, artists’ interviews, group discussion, art work interpretations, and historical research of Hopi art, visual culture, and issues of native identity. In particular, my analysis focused on issues of power / knowledge relationships, identity construction, and the artist as co-constructor of culture through personal narratives. Implications for art education centered on the concept of storytelling through mythic archaeology situated in identities of past, present, and future. Copyright 2011 by Lori J. Santos ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The long process of completing this dissertation has taken me on many challenges. It reminds me of the African proverb, “It takes a village …”. I have come to the conclusion that it takes a village … to also write a dissertation. I would not have made it through this process without the tireless help and support of my family, friends, and professors. I dearly thank them all, especially my daughters Monica and Mvha’yv, for their mentorship, love, caring, and friendship, as well as their patience with my many absences and shortcomings through this process. I give special and sincere thanks to Dr. Rina Kundu, my major professor, who always believed in me. I cannot thank her enough for the wisdom and advice she has given to me over the last few years. She has enhanced my success as a researcher and my use of a critical theoretical framework in this study. Additionally, sincere thanks to my committee members Dr. Christina Bain and Dr. Connie Newton, and my UNK colleague Dr. Donna Alden, for their support, advice, and contributions to this dissertation. Each of you has enriched my experience as a researcher, scholar, and art educator in unique ways. Thank you to my editor, Shannon Venable, who assisted me with her exceptional skills in refining the final document. I also wish to thank my parents, Edmund and Arlene Santos, for their love and support. Last, but not least, my most sincere gratitude and love to the Hopi artists, Michael Kabotie, Edward Kabotie, Delbridge Honanie, and Mark Tahbo, who shared their life experiences and artistic spirits. I dedicate this work to Michael Kabotie, Lomawywesa (Walking in Harmony), may we all find the middle place through the journey of our own artist’s spirit. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................................................................................... vi Chapters 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study Background of the Study Visuality in the Southwest Statement of the Problem Research Questions Significance to Art Education Chapter Overviews 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ..........................................................................20 Culture Toward a Postmodern Understanding of Culture Multicultural Issues of Identity Multicultural Education Multiculturalism in Art Education Critical Praxis in Art Education: Where Should We Be Going? Theoretical Foundations for a Postmodern Praxis of Cultural Visuality Visual Culture in Art Education VCAE in the Art Classroom Summary 3. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................54 Why Critical Ethnography? Ethnography as Theory and Method Ethnography as Reflective Practice An Emphasis on Culture Understanding Hopi Culture: A Situated Context iv The Participants Data Collection Data Analysis Limitations of the Study Paradigmatic Assumptions Validity Significance of the Study 4. DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................91 Storytelling: Coming to Native Discourses of the Artist Historical and Scholarly Discourses of Native Identity Social Identities of the Hopi Artist The Artist as a Social Discourse of Past, Present, and Future Living and Constructing Identity Through Art Making Connecting Visual Culture, Identity, Art Making, and Art Education Full Circle Identity as Past, Present, and Future: The Mythic Archeologist Stories to Live By Visuality and Native Identity 5. FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS ....................................................................157 Introduction A Critical Look at Art Education The Current State of Art Education The Critical Role of Visuality in Art Education Bringing Narratives of Identity to the Art Classroom Findings and Recommendations Expanding the Research Conclusion APPENDIX: A STORY OF THE HOPI HERO TWINS ............................................................184 REFERENCE LIST .....................................................................................................................188 v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page 2.1 The interconnectivity of the elements of visuality ...............................................................6 3.1 Research design .................................................................................................................54 3.2 Interrelationship between key aspects of research design .................................................54 3.3 Michael Kabotie, 2009 .......................................................................................................64 3.4 Delbridge Honanie, working on cottonwood root sculpture, 2010 ....................................66 3.5 Edward Kabotie .................................................................................................................67 3.6 Mark Tahbo, with tribute pot of Michael Kabotie as a Hopi clown, by Mark Tahbo, 2010 ............................................................................................................................................68 3.7 Three-dimensional inquiry space. Adapted from Clandinin & Connelly, 2006 ................78 4.1 Identities past, present, future ............................................................................................94 4.2 Contemporary figurative work by Mark Tahbo ...............................................................107 4.3 Contemporary figurative work by Mark Tahbo ...............................................................107 4.4 Hummingbird pot, by Mark Tahbo ..................................................................................108 4.5 Edward Kabotie and Lori Santos with tribute portrait painting of Michael Kabotie, by Edward Kabotie, 2010 .....................................................................................................115 4.6 "Ascending from the Deep Remembering," acrylic, Michael Kabotie, 1998 ..................130 4.7 First panel, Kiva Mural (Courtesy of the Kabotie Family and the Museum of Northern Arizona) ...........................................................................................................................144 4.8 Second panel, Kiva mural (Courtesy of the Kabotie Family and the Museum of Northern Arizona) ...........................................................................................................................144 4.9 Third panel, Kiva Mural (Courtesy of the Kabotie Family and the Museum of Northern Arizona) ...........................................................................................................................145 4.10 Fourth Panel, Kiva Mural (Courtesy of the Kabotie Family and the Museum of Northern Arizona) ...........................................................................................................................146 4.11 Fifth panel, Kiva Mural (Courtesy of the Kabotie Family and the Museum of Northern Arizona) ...........................................................................................................................146 vi 5.1 “Protest,” acrylic, Michael Kabotie .................................................................................182 5.2 “Line Impressions Kachina #2,” acrylic, Michael Kabotie .............................................183 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION While working at the National Museum of the American Indian, New York City site for a summer internship in 2006, Navajo artist Will Wilson remarked within his exhibition text that “art making is a way to tell personal and community stories, to strengthen Indians with examples of resistance, and the possibilities of controlling one’s own representation” (National Museum of the American Indian, 2006). Wilson’s challenging statement presents for us the dynamic dilemma for contemporary native artists to present themselves as a living cultures with the right to cultural representation