sandpainting
Ceremonial grain imagery
Sandpainting is the art of creating images by pouring colored sand onto a surface.
Among Navajo and other Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest, sandpaintings are ceremonial works made on the ground, often destroyed after use in healing rituals.
The technique also appears in secular art, where designs may be fixed with adhesive: The artist demonstrated sandpainting at the craft fair.
Southwestern indigenous people
- TibetanOf a Himalayan region
- HopiPueblo people of Arizona
- mandalaCircular spiritual diagram
- indigenousOriginating in a region
Buddhist · Jain · Aboriginal · ceremonial · traditional · sacred · symbolic · spiritual
Limited in duration
- impermanentNot meant to last
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- destroyedMade to cease existing
dispersed · swept · dissolution · momentary · evanescent · windblown · scattered · fading
Formal event marking occasions
- healingRestoration of health
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
- chantsRepeated rhythmic phrases
altar · offerings · rites · shaman · prayer · invocation · consecration · destruction
Color-imparting material
- pollenFloral reproductive grains
- cornmealCoarsely milled dried maize
- charcoalBurned wood residue
- gypsumHydrated calcium sulfate
ochre · minerals · stones · bark · petals · crushed · colored · powdered
Restoration of health
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- meditationFocused attention practice
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
- calmingInducing a settled state
centering · focus · relaxation · grounding · contemplative · soothing · restorative · cathartic
Navajo
Southwestern indigenous people
indigenous · Buddhist · Jain · Aboriginal · ceremonial · traditional · sacred · symbolic · spiritual · totemic
temporary
Limited in duration
- impermanentNot meant to last
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- fleetingPassing very quickly
destroyed · dispersed · swept · dissolution · momentary · evanescent · windblown · scattered · fading · vanishing
ceremony
Formal event marking occasions
- healingRestoration of health
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
chants · altar · offerings · rites · shaman · prayer · invocation · consecration · destruction · dispersal
pigment
Color-imparting material
gypsum · ochre · minerals · stones · bark · petals · crushed · colored · powdered · natural
healing
Restoration of health
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- meditationFocused attention practice
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
calming · centering · focus · relaxation · grounding · contemplative · soothing · restorative · cathartic · presence
pouring
Flowing in volume
- tricklingFlowing in thin stream
- layeringForming successive strata
- pinchingSqueezing tightly between fingers
sprinkling · funneling · placement · precision · symmetry · geometry · pattern · design · composition · outline
rainbow
Refracted light arc
eagle · snake · bear · thunderbird · mountains · lightning · clouds · plants · animals · guardians
- Ethnic Symbolstribal patterns, tribal masks, clan symbols, totem poles, ceremonial masks
- Navajohogan, hogans, Navajo weaving, turquoise jewelry, Monument Valley
sandpaintingoil painting
Art made with linseed-bound pigments
sculpture · bronze casting · marble carving · stone sculpture · watercolor
sandpaintingmarble statue
Figure carved from metamorphic rock
cave painting · eternal flame · fresco · mosaic · oil on canvas
sandpaintingcommercial art
Visual work for profit
decorative art · art for art's sake · Renaissance painting · still life