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Dynamic symmetry and holistic asymmetry in Navajo and Western art and cosmology

by Gary Witherspoon · 1995

Cover of Dynamic symmetry and holistic asymmetry in Navajo and Western art and cosmology

Explores the relationship between the cultural roots of the Navajo and the aesthetic forms and styles in their sandpainting, weaving, and silverwork. Finds in the work a symmetry of the whole derived from the fundamentally asymmetrical Holy Pair embodied in the Changing Woman, and shows how that pattern is observable in other modern art and science.

HolismNavajo languageSymmetry (Art)Navajo artNavajo cosmologyNavajo philosophyIndian art, north americaIndian philosophy, north americaProportion (art)