Fire of Creation (Sand)

The sky serpent watches over the creation of the earth, symbolized by male and female flames on either side of the main flame, the source of Creation.

Fire of Creation is an exceptionally large and complex composition by Paladin, involving an abundance of muted secondary colors and shapes, some of them raised above the painting's main surface.

Had this sand painting been free of the flaw seen in the last photograph and not requiring a new frame, its gallery price would have been $3,500.00.

(1926-1984) Painting the Dream: the Visionary Art of Navajo Painter David Chethlahe Paladin was published in 1992 by the artist's widow, Lynda Paladin. This artist credited Marc Chagall, Mark Tobey and Morris Graves as influencing his approach to painting as well as how he treated his subject matter.

The Huichol Indians' work also impacted the appearance of his art. For 2 1/2 years Paladin was a prisoner of war, released finally at Dachau in a near coma state.

In 1975 Newsweek cited him as the nation's "leading Navajo modern artist". The Santa Fean magazine named him Artist of the Year in 1981.

Major exhibitions of his work have taken place at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth (1966), at the Heard Museum (1967, 1975), at the William Penn Memorial Museum in Pittsburgh (1969), at the Albuquerque Museum (1975, 1985), at the American Indian Art Center in New York (1975), at the Navajo Tribal Museum in Window Rock, Arizona (1984), at the San Diego Museum of Man (1985) and at the Museum of Art at the University of Arizona in Tucson (1988).