This exhibition featured twenty-three copper plate etchings by Helen Hardin, spanning her work from 1980 to 1984. Emerging as a significant contemporary artist in the 1970s and 1980s, Hardin paved the way for other Native women artists who challenged expectations of “Indian traditionalism” by embracing innovative approaches to artistic expression.
Hardin’s mother, Pablita Velarde, was renowned in her own right. Departing from the conventional association of women with pottery-making in her home community of Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, Velarde adopted painting as her primary medium, depicting scenes of Pueblo life.
Hardin began painting at a young age, developing drafting skills in high school and later participating in the University of Arizona’s Southwestern Indian Art Project, an initiative that contributed to the founding of the Institute of American Indian Arts. She further developed her distinctive style in the 1970s, and in the 1980s began producing copper plate etchings, refining her technique of precise linear and geometric design.
The etchings translated traditional symbology informed by Hardin’s diverse cultural heritage through modern techniques and interpretation. Intent on honoring her ancestral heritage, she signed her work using her Tewa name, Tsa-sah-wee-eh, meaning “Little Standing Spruce.” Hardin continued to create works during a multi-year battle with breast cancer, completing her final etching, Mimbres Kokopelli, shortly before her passing in 1984.
The exhibition was hosted at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College throughout 2018.