1990s Rosabelle Ben Navajo Sand Painting Diné Native American Art Shiprock, New Mexico

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This is a really beautiful, authentic Navajo sandpainting by the respected Diné artist Rosabelle Ben, who works out of the … Read more This is a really beautiful, authentic Navajo sandpainting by the respected Diné artist Rosabelle Ben, who works out of the Shiprock, New Mexico area. She is highly regarded for her exceptionally clean linework and balanced layouts, and this piece is a perfect example of her skill.

The piece features two highly detailed Yei figures flanking a sacred central cornstalk, all meticulously laid out with crushed stone and natural colored sands. The Yei are the Holy People or ancestral deities in Navajo culture who act as spiritual messengers and healers.

In traditional ceremonies, medicine men create large, temporary sandpaintings on the ground to channel healing and blessings, destroying them before sunset. Native artists later adapted the medium using natural resins to permanently bond the sand to board so these powerful stories and artistic traditions could be preserved and shared. See less