At Harvard Art Museums’ “Edna Andrade: Imagination is Never Static” exhibit, Stephanie Mach gave a presentation on the significance of Navajo weaving and design Nov. 5.
Andrade was an American artist known for her geometric patterns and creation of motion through her art. Displayed in the exhibit were four of her “Eight Studies Based on Navajo Designs,” which were the subject of this presentation.
Mach, a curator at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and a member of the Navajo Nation, described where Andrade got her inspiration from.
“She was in the southwest a lot in the 1970s and 1980s. In her time there she definitely encountered a lot of southwestern designs and in particular, Navajo textiles,” said Mach.
The exhibit wall said, “Her trip to the Tamarind Institute in New Mexico in 1971 and a visiting professorship at the University of Arizona in 1981 introduced her to the spiritually imbued geometric forms found in weavings of the [Navajo].”
Mach used Andrade’s drawings as a basis for her discussion, then dove deeper into the importance of weaving in Navajo culture. She discussed how weaving ties into the Navajo creation story: that the mythical figure Spider Woman wove existence into being.
Mach pointed at where Andrade references the loom in “Eight Studies Based on Navajo Designs.”
“What is jumping out to me in these square shapes are perhaps an emphasis on the loom. Maybe she’s recalling this idea of a loom, with these perpendicular intersections being highlighted by the form of the squares,” said Mach.
As well as weaving, the loom is very important in Navajo culture. Mach explained that the left and right sides of the loom represent night and day; the top and bottom represent the sky and ground.
When she told the myth of the Spider Woman, she further explained that sitting at a loom and weaving is recreating the act of creation itself.
Mach took a closer look at the specific Navajo techniques Andrade employed.
“Other things that pop out to me in her drawings is the overall order. They’re very precise. Some of them appear very symmetrical,” said Mach.
Symmetry is a technique often employed by Navajo weavers. Navajo textiles seek to emulate natural balance, but their symmetry isn’t perfect: Weavers would intentionally make one small part of a pattern slightly wrong. Throughout the talk, Mach explored the Navajo concept of hózhó, which roughly means “balance.”
This talk highlighted Navajo art as part of observing Indigenous Peoples’ Month in November. Throughout the talk, Mach emphasized the idea of Navajo resilience in the face of colonization, both in the past and today.
Mach’s gallery talk was one of many of Harvard Art Museums’ free lectures and talks, which can be found on its calendar. There are several more talks about Andrade’s exhibit before it closes Jan. 4, 2026.
