About Michael Kabotie

Kabotie, Michael (Lomawywesa)
Hopi, 1942-
Flagstaff, Arizona
Works in the Collection | Artist Photo

Michael Kabotie, son of Fred Kabotie, the first Hopi easel painter to achieve national recognition, has found substantial fame in his own right over the last forty years of his artistic career. Kabotie studied art with his father at Hopi High, and then transferred to Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas. As a 17 year old, he attended the University of Arizona’s Southwestern Indian Art Project. Like fellow student Helen Hardin, Kabotie creates art deeply grounded in ancestral graphic traditions, but with the visual vocabulary of contemporary abstract art. He is also a poet, writer and silversmith. With other Hopi artists, Kabotie founded Artists Hopid in 1973, to promote communication and mutual support among its members. Humor and social commentary often find their way into Kabotie creations.

King, with its playing card layout and iconography, also has Hopi pottery and textile motifs integrated into the whole. The face is part kiva mural convention and part Picasso.

Michael Kabotie's website displays his current work.