In Deer with Magpie, Tony Abeyta composes a fluid, atmospheric field of floating imagery where animals, symbols, and abstraction move in rhythmic dialogue. Deer, antlers, and a magpie drift through overlapping planes of deep magenta, red, green, and earth tones, suggesting cycles of migration, shifting weather, and the constant motion of the natural world. Forms emerge and dissolve, echoing the way landscape, animals, and spirit are understood as interconnected rather than fixed.

A horned shield appears in the lower corner, grounding the composition in protection, ceremony, and ancestral memory. As in much of Abeyta’s work, reverence and energy coexist—nature is not observed from a distance but experienced as a living system in motion. Through layered paint, gesture, and symbolism, Deer with Magpie reflects a Diné worldview in which balance is found through movement, transition, and the enduring presence of the land and its beings.