MILLAND LOMAKEMA

– MILLAND LOMAKEMA (DAWAKEMA) –

Hopi, 1941-2021

Milland Lomakema (also recorded as Dawakema) was born in Shungopovi on Second Mesa, Hopi Reservation, and belonged to the Corn/Water clan. He emerged from a generation of Hopi painters who combined traditional imagery with a contemporary graphic style. Lomakema was one of the founders of the Artist Hopid collective, formed in the early 1970s by Hopi painters who sought to document Hopi history and raise the visibility of Hopi art—an effort that shaped both his career and the community’s artistic profile.

Lomakema’s visual language mixes representational ceremonial subjects (kachinas, dances, agricultural motifs) with tightly composed, often abstracted forms and a bold palette; his work ranges from figurative narrative scenes to geometric and symbolic abstractions. He worked in acrylic and oil and produced paintings that were frequently framed and sold through Southwestern galleries. Early in his career he won notable recognition at the Heard Museum’s National Indian Art Show—including first place in 1968—and continued to receive awards into 1969–1970, which helped establish his reputation among collectors and curators of Native American painting.

Lomakema’s work is represented in several major museum collections, underscoring his contributions to Native American art history. The Heard Museum in Phoenix holds examples of his paintings, as does the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, which has actively collected works by members of Artist Hopid. The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe has also exhibited his work in the context of Hopi painting traditions, while institutions such as the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Millicent Rogers Museum have included his work in exhibitions exploring Pueblo and Hopi visual culture. These placements highlight Lomakema’s role not only as an individual artist but also as part of a broader movement of Hopi painters who bridged traditional imagery and modern expression. He passed away in 2021, in Polacca, Arizona.