Alternate Views 
“Sunrise on the Mesas”
by Richard Honyouti, Hopi
Description: Hand carved alder, oil based stains.
About this Award: Awarded for high quality in craftsmanship in carving. Any medium is eligible.
Jurors’ Comments:
Mark Bahti: It’s almost a narrative progression in terms of having the prayer feathers on either a triangle or spring (probably, based on the pollywog there) and the rain cloud motif above them. That goes into the rainbow bars that interact with the full sun motif and the top mirrors the bottom on it. So, even though it’s a linear piece it suggests a cycle and it's well executed: there are no overcuts on any of the corners. It's very precisely done, but without having that machine laser-cut feel that some things can have when they're too precise.
Martin Kim: The precision of the cutting also drew my vote to this. The palette of using stains rather than opaque paint to take advantage of the wood. I think the piece just works very well visually.
Susan Folwell: (About the Runner-up, her choice, “Good Harvest”) I’ve chosen it because it seems to be a very complete idea. There are two separate pieces, one of the saguaro and one of the woman collecting the cactus. It’s clearly a folk art piece; but, it's carved beautifully and it relays its message very clearly. It's a very beautiful sculptural piece.
Photo by Marnie Sharp