Corn, of course, is integral to Hopi life. Prayers and dance are offered to the gods so that they will allow rain and the corn will grow. These prayers often are conveyed to the gods by birds and their feathers.
Here Mark Tahbo has developed an image that expresses this exchange. Four beings with avian heads and wings sway in dance around the exterior of this jar. Their bodies are the yearned for corn. Corn tassels emerge from the kernels.
Because it directly addresses the Hopi sense of the sacred, this is powerful iconography.
