This piece is loosely based off of the confluence of the Little Colorado river and the main stem of the Colorado through the Grand Canyon.  This confluence is sacred to the Hopi people, among many others, and the area has been threatened by commercial development for tourism and hydro pump storage dam proposals for decades: protections for the Little Colorado River is an ongoing battle.

The Little Colorado River is this unreal light blue color, seemingly a mirage amongst the rusted, sunbaked rock layers of Grand Canyon.  The confluence itself is a surreal meeting of this turquoise water with the muddy red of the Colorado itself: it forms a distinct line for hundreds of feet as the two rivers merge.  The Hopi believe it is their birthplace.  A large travertine dome called the Sipapu is their spiritual portal to this world from the last.

Through this piece, I want to capture the feeling of this place: both the weight of its beauty and its fragility.  I chose to implement the figure of a lone Hopi woman to integrate a narrative component: the relationship between human and place, and the ongoing fight of the Hopi people to protect their spiritual home.