Emmi Whitehorse

Untitled (Rushing Water Series)

Emmi Whitehorse’s Diné values and upbringing inform her mixed-media approach of layering color and marks to allude to the vastness of the natural world and its microscopic details. Untitled (Rushing Water Series) features her signature approach of gradually creating depth by overlapping pastels, turpentine, oil sticks, chalk, and graphite. Shapes reminiscent of a riverbed filled with smooth stones, muddled leaves, and broken twigs fill the atmospheric composition. Vast areas of gradient colors mimic the effect of water to blur visible boundaries between objects, as if immersing the viewer within a rushing river. This is reflective of her investment in the experience of, in her words, “being completely, microcosmically within a place.”
Whitehorse describes her process as an intuitive approach to abstraction, something she gleaned from her grandmother’s weaving lessons. She also learned of the Navajo philosophy Hózhó through her grandmother. Imperfectly translating to “walking in beauty,” Hózhó emphasizes the interconnectedness of all things and the importance of maintaining balance, harmony, and order. Whitehorse seeks to practice and emulate Hózhó in her art as a guiding principle for living a life of wellness in relationship with the natural world.