About the Artist
Emmi Whitehorse (born 1957) is a Native American painter and printmaker. She was born in Crownpoint, New Mexico and is a member of the Navajo Nation. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Whitehorse grew up on the open land northeast of Gallup, New Mexico in a family where only the Navajo language was spoken. Whitehorse was born into a family whose livelihood depended largely on rearing sheep. Through herding sheep and exploring nearby ruins, she developed an interest in light affects our perception of the environment–how clouds darken canyons, sunlight illuminates small flora and fauna, and the horizon line dissolves with dusk. She was also struck by the colors that emerge from weaving and its associated activities.
In 1980, Whitehorse earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in painting from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque (UNM). She earned her master’s degree in art in 1982, also from UNM, majoring in printmaking and minoring in art history.
Whitehorse’s paintings draw upon a personal iconography, based on her reflections of her natural surroundings. She brings together Navajo cosmological perspectives with abstraction in her work.
Taken from Emmi Whitehorse – Wikipedia