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Since 1969...
Len Wood's
Indian Territory,
Inc.
The Nation's largest
selection of Antique
American Indian Art
Len Wood's
INDIAN TERRITORY
305 N. Coast Hwy, #D
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
email:
info@indianterritory.com
phone: (949) 497-5747
orders: (800) 579-0860
(email orders anytime; phone orders Tue-Sat 11-5 Pacific Time )
GALLERY HOURS
Gallery Open
Tue. - Sat. 10-5
Pacific Time
(*Closed Sundays, Mondays & holidays)
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To see Currently Available Original Works by Helen Hardin please
visit our Online Catalog here:
Catalog of Available Helen Hardin Original Paintings
Helen Hardin : 1943-1984
 Helen Hardin’s life was profoundly marked by her search for identity and her
struggle for acceptance and recognition both at home and in the world. The art
that she created attests to the internal and external conflicts and resolutions
that she experienced
during her short lifetime.
Born on May 29, 1943 to Herbert Hardin, an Anglo policeman, and Pablita Velarde,
a renowned Santa Clara artist, Helen was immediately faced with the emotional
and cultural challenges of her mixed ethnic background. Rejected by the Santa
Clara Pueblo elders as a “half-breed,” Helen was forbidden to partake in the
dances and traditions of her mother culture, and was thus unable to create a
solid identity for herself as a member of Pueblo society. Living on the
outskirts of Tewa culture, Helen found little comfort among her peers and even
less comfort in her unstable home environment. Lacking support from her father
who left home when she was just thirteen and constantly abused by her
emotionally distant mother, Helen yearned for a way to define herself and to
become accepted by others. In time, her artistic endeavors would prove to be the
medium through which she could put order into her life, and attribute meaning to
her existence.
Helen never initially aspired to become an artist, and was “in fact negative
about the prospect because it would mean competing with her mother” (Scott, 16).
In fact, when Helen finally acknowledged her artistic calling, her mother Pablita Velarde was already a prominent Indian artist in the Southwest and did
much to prevent her daughter’s arrival onto the art scene. As animosity and
jealousy between mother and daughter grew stronger, the challenge for Helen to
step out from under her mother’s shadow into a light of her own seemed a
formidable one indeed.
Yet opportunity came Helen’s way, and in 1962, Helen held her first one-woman
show at Coronado Monument, just a few miles north of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Soon thereafter, in 1964, Helen exhibited her works at Enchanted Mesa. However
it would not be until 1968, upon her return from a sojourn in Colombia, that
Helen would have true confidence in her abilities and a clear vision of her
artistic objectives. Having seen the success of her artworks among the Columbian
people, far from her mother’s sphere of influence and control, Helen became
aware of her full artistic potential. In 1969, Helen won first prize “for
innovation” for her Chief’s Robes at the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial in
Gallup, New Mexico. In March of 1970, Helen graced the cover of New Mexico
Magazine and was featured in the main article entitled “Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh Does Her
Thing”. With this publication, Helen’s status rose overnight to that of a
national celebrity.
 No longer simply the “daughter of Pablita Velarde,” Helen Hardin had become an
artist in her own right, and impressed the nation with her inventive and
painstakingly perfect compositions. Her fascination with perfectionism demanded
a great deal of her time and energy, and at times even “…transcended economic …
[and] aesthetic imperatives… her paintings were so full of meticulously executed
detail [that] it was impossible for the viewer to appreciate (or even, in some
cases, to see) the total complexity of her craftsmanship.” (Scott, 18-19). Yet
in using her art as an escape and refuge from her chaotic life, the exactitude
that Helen strived for gave her a sense of order and control that she so needed
and desired.
Making Prints:
While
Helen’s success in the art world continued to thrive, the time required for the
creation of each original piece severely limited the quantity of works produced.
In 1979, California art dealer Sue Di Maio went to Helen to propose the idea of
making etchings. While initially against the idea, Helen agreed to make four
etchings at El Cerro Graphics in Los Lunas, NM. The result was more than
satisfactory. Helen would later admit to her contentment with this technique,
stating “etching suited me perfectly.”
Works Cited:
Scott, Jay. Changing Woman, The Life and Art of Helen Hardin. Northland
Publishing Co. 1989.
THE WOMAN SERIES:
From 1981 to 1983, Helen began her most ambitious etching series, known as “the
Woman Series.” Created during a time of tremendous introspection, the Woman
Series is symbolically rich with the knowledge and understanding accumulated
throughout Helen’s lifetime.
The first etching of this series is entitled “Changing Woman.” Created in 1981,
Changing Woman is considered to be the representation of Helen as a thinker and
warrior. Her face, divided in half, represents the internal and external
struggles of Helen’s life. On the right side, one observes a face in profile,
possibly symbolic of Helen herself looking inward towards her family and
cultural relationships, the shadows of her painful conflicts that have remained
in silence. On the left side, one observes a frontal gaze, symbolizing Helen’s
confrontation of the external Tewa and Anglo worlds, and her resolution to
belong to neither. The face is in the form of a circle. One may guess that the
circle symbolizes wholeness and the universal cycle of life, things that Helen
strives for so desperately. The turquoise beads, signs of good health and luck,
bless Helen’s struggle. She has a heart-line to the mouth and can speak openly
from her heart, but the message she speaks is in flux as she speaks in four
directions. She is the constancy of change.
 The second etching of this series is entitled “Medicine Woman”, and was
completed exactly a year later, in 1982, before Helen was diagnosed with breast
cancer. This etching is replete with healing imagery, and was likely a
subconscious creation to support Helen in the trials to come. Helen’s daughter
Margarete notes : “Not a traditional Medicine Woman, she is the side of Woman
who expresses the nurturing sense. She is the healing spirit in the woman who
calms the earth. She is the only Woman in the series with feathers.” Medicine
Woman is literally split into two parts. She is both the hurt woman and the
healer of the self. Like Changing Woman, she is looking in two directions at
once. She looks inward with her crossed eyes, knowing that she must “look beyond
what is within and know it” (comments from Margarete). Medicine Woman must find
her cure within herself. Representing a ceremonial healer, she holds together
the broken circle that contains both her active pain and her longing for
healing.
The
third etching of this series is Listening Woman, created in 1983. Helen
described Listening Woman as follows: “Listening Woman is who I am becoming now.
She looks straightforward. She is very bold, very strong. She is the strongest
of the three so far. She listens. She looks directly at you. She is solid and
self-sufficient and able to absorb the sorrow of the universe.” In verity,
Listening Woman is the figure that can endure and embrace constant change as the
dualities are bridged. Her oval face, more human than the other two circular
faces, holds all, and has clarity seen with the horizontal divide. Listening
Woman has but one mouth, and speaks clearly into the four directions. Her head
is hunched into her shoulders, which enables her to absorb the sorrows of the
universe. Gazing directly ahead, she demonstrates her ability to show compassion
and forgive the wrongdoings of others.
Margarete stated that her mother found in Listening Woman an “objective self”
who was willing to listen to her soulful needs.
When Helen lay dying in her home, she asked to be surrounded by her Women. Her
family placed Changing Woman, Medicine Woman and Listening Woman in her room.
When Helen passed on June 9, 1984, the paintings were removed one by one.
Original Helen Hardin works are available at Len Wood’s
Indian Territory, South Gallery of
Western Fine Art.
View the Catalog:
Catalog of Available Helen Hardin Original Paintings
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