Artwork copyright Mark Swazo-Hinds. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

Protector of My Cornfield, 1983

Mark Swazo-Hinds
American Tesuque Pueblo (born 1959)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

About the Artwork

Protector of My Cornfield is a mixed media sculpture by Pueblo artist Mark Swazo Hinds which combines natural materials bound together and composed as a symbolic and spiritually resonant object. This artwork is part of Beyond Blue Mountains, a collection that was curated by late Tlingit (Native Alaskan) artist Jim Schoppert. It presents the work of Native American artists of diverse heritage, ideas, materials, and styles. The collection takes an in-depth look at the artists’ unique voices and interpretations of tradition.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Washington State Arts Commission.

About the Artist

Born in Berkeley, California, Swazo-Hinds moved to the Tesque Pueblo in New Mexico in 1972. He attended the Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kansas, and graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1981.