About

 

Kevin Horace Quannie, member of the Water and Corn Clan, On his Hopi side and Navajo side Salt Clan who was born in 1960. He is a Hopi/Navajo contemporary artist and has been a carver of kachina sculptures since 1980. Living in Kykotsmovi, on the Hopi reservation, Kevin's occupation as a tribal ranger required long hours with little pay. It was during this time while managing a small family art gallery that he took an interest in Hopi art. Kachina doll carving became a serious occupation for him with much of his inspiration credited from notable kachina doll carvers such as Neil David, Sr. and Lowell Talashoma, Sr.

Kevin specializes in carving contemporary kachina dolls using cottonwood roots, whereby he takes artwork one step beyond traditional methods. Some of his artwork have been transformed into bronze sculptures capturing all the beauty and textures of the natural grains from the original pieces done in cottonwood roots. Feathers, originally wood burned one by one, glisten in gold and amber in his bronze sculptures, the last few years. Kevin has taken his forms of carvings from the wax part of the Bronzes and transformed the images to another field of Blown Glass images. It was difficult but with my Mesa Art Center Instructor and fellow student's all helping we created the glass images.

Kevin has also been painting on canvas with a concept of traditional images to contemporary, since the last 17 years of his 32 years career as an Artist. The paintings have taken a new direction all by itself.

He has received many awards and has established himself as a quality artist.

Throughout my career as an Artist, being diverse is part of creating art. I have also created images of Jewelry in a Contemporary Hopi form using Gold, Diamonds, and Silvers combined with High-Grade Turquoise and other Precious Stones.

Kevin believes his choice to be an artist was an ethereal choice in expressing his inner feelings through his art. What continues to inspire and motivate Kevin as an artisan is that his creations--whether it is a sculptured kachina, gold or silver jewelry, or an oil painting--will make collectors proud to add his art to their collections.