Navajo Butterfly Corn Maiden Cottonwood Carving - Dennis Ross (#70)
$1,100.00
Artist: Dennis Ross
Folk Art
Base: 6" x 4 3/4"
Height: 31"
Dennis Ross inhabits many cultures all at the same time, and his carvings speak not only of interesting art, but also of legends, history and ancient stories. He is half Hopi and Navajo and his art showcases that side of him. In this piece Dennis has taken a branch of dried out cottonwood root, than whittled, sanded, painted, and made a beautiful butterfly sculpture. Adding imagery of corn, fertility, prayer and turquoise; Dennis has done what he always does best; carving things of beauty out of wood.
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About the artist:
Asked how he first started carving, Dennis Ross answers with a laugh, "My brother - he gave me a knife, and a stone, and a piece of carving wood, and said, 'Here you go'." Dennis was twenty-six years old. His brother, Harry Bert, also gave him a little constructive criticism on that first experiment into the creative world of carving, but Dennis took it from there.
Related legends:
Butterfly in Navajo Traditional Stories
Butterfly: Due to the natural beauty of its wings, Butterfly is often considered vain. Yet, in Navajo mythology, Butterfly brings the sacred flint to the hooves of the horse. In the legend of the diety, Butterfly Boy was cured of his vanity by being lightning struck with the axe of Rain Boy. After that, his head opened up and out of it came the butterflies of the world. The perishable dust of Butterfly's wings is sometimes thought to prove that such beauty is usually not durable.