Wilmer Kaye
Snow Maiden
10" H
with 3" base
"Occassionally among
the Kachin Manas of the Niman Ceremony [home dance] there will
be seen one who has an entirely white head and face. Snow-white
hair will be done up in a small knot at ether side of the head.
Above the painted black eyes
is a cluster of small black dots, and on either cheek the warrior
marks appear in black. This kachina is the Snow Maiden [Nuvak'chin
Mana] whose function is the same as the Kachin Mana in the
Niman Ceremony.
However, she is an additional
prayer for the coming cold weather - the hope that snow may fall
and fill the ground with moisture for the coming year."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (213)
Wilmer Kaye, Hopi, is known
for the perfection of his Katsina dolls and sculptures. Willard
Loloma, Kaye's uncle, taught him to carve when he was only a
teen. Wilmer is also the nephew of famed Hopi jeweler, Charles
Loloma.
Kaye continued to carve after
he completed high school, while working in constuction as a mason.
Kaye uses only a pocket knife for his carvings and uses both
paint and stains. He rubs linseed oil into the wood to bring
out the grain and preserve the wood.
Kaye works on one Katsina
doll at a time, so that he can concentrate and make it look the
best it can, before beginning a new doll. Kaye's intricate carvings
have won many awards and have been seen on the cover of Arizona
Highways magazine.
