Weaving Worlds…
The Art and Legacy of Navajo Artist
Sheldon Harvey

Chimayo Trading Staff Report | August 2025

Sheldon Harvey, a Diné (Navajo) artist born in 1978 in Lukachukai, Arizona, has emerged as a powerful voice in contemporary Native American art, blending traditional Navajo storytelling with modern artistic techniques. A member of the Red Running Into Water Clan, Harvey’s work spans painting, sculpture, and mixed media, reflecting his deep connection to Navajo creation stories, spirituality, and cultural identity. His innovative style, which incorporates elements of cubism, expressionism, and abstraction, has earned him international acclaim, with pieces in collections across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Sheldon recently delivered new works to Chimayo Trading to add to our collection. Stop by the Saint Francis Church Plaza in Ranchos de Taos or visit chimayotrading.com to see what magic Sheldon Harvey conjures up.

“Monsoon”
Oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 2025 – 54” x 48”

Harvey’s artistic journey began in his childhood on the Navajo reservation in northeast Arizona, near the Four Corners. Raised in a small community, he was immersed in Diné traditions, including the creation stories of the insect-like First World Air-Spirit Beings, which would later become central to his work. Trained as a medicine man by his grandfather and great-grandfather, Harvey also harbored a passion for art from a young age.

Although Harvey studied fine arts at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona, he considers himself largely self-taught, attributing his talents to early familial guidance. His exposure to Navajo sand paintings, weavings, and Yei-Be-Che dances fueled his creative vision, which seeks to preserve and reinterpret ancient Navajo folklore for modern audiences.

“#3 Deerway”
Oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 2025 – 30” x 24”

Harvey’s work is a fusion of traditional and contemporary, drawing heavily from Navajo cosmogony and mythology. His paintings, created in acrylics and oils, range from representational to symbolic, often depicting spirit beings from the Navajo creation myth. His mixed media sculptures, crafted from wood, metal, feathers, yucca, and other natural materials, embody Navajo folklore with a modern twist, evoking both reverence and innovation.

His art often explores universal themes of creation, identity, and humanity’s place in the cosmos. In a 2022 interview with The Taos News, Harvey articulated his mission:

“In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I observed people consumed with wealth and wars, prosperous and poor, getting lost. They didn’t understand or question where they came from. When I started making art, I wanted to bring back traditional values of humanity in my work.”

“Red Path Ye’i”
Oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 2025 – 36” x 28”

Harvey’s talent has been widely recognized, particularly at the Santa Fe Indian Market, where he made history in 2008 by winning Best of Show for his oil painting “Trickster Way”, Best of Classification for Trixter Way, and Best of Classification for his sculpture Twins, a six-foot-tall piece inspired by the Navajo twin heroes legend. This triple win was a rare feat, cementing his status as a leading Native artist. He has also secured first-place awards for sculpture and painting in 2005, 2006, and 2007 at the same market.

His work has been exhibited at prestigious venues, including a solo retrospective at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona in 2006–2007. The Heard Museum in Phoenix has invited him to create a grand-scale show, and his pieces are featured in galleries like Chimayo Trading Del Norte.

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 2025 – 56” x 84” SOLD

Beyond his technical skill, Harvey’s art serves a higher purpose: to bridge cultural divides and foster a universal appreciation of creation. His grandfather’s teachings about “real wealth”—family, love, and connection to creation—permeate his work and life. As a fluent Navajo speaker, Harvey channels his heritage into art that protects and projects traditional knowledge into the future.

Gabriel Abrums, owner of Chimayo Trading Del Norte, praises Harvey’s ability to merge cultures:

“His work is the merging of different cultures. There are traditional Navajo themes with very interesting Picasso-like aspects of cubism and expressionism.”

This synthesis has made Harvey a sought-after artist, with collectors worldwide drawn to his unique vision.

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 2025 – 24” x 18”

Harvey continues to create year-round, often starting his day with meditation and a fire in his studio. His process is intuitive, as he describes:

“I don’t sleep. I just rest and pick up the paintbrush to create something unknown. Sometimes it gets emotional because I don’t know what I’ll create or how it will unfold.”

His Ye’i figures, carved in wood and adorned with macaw feathers, horsehair, and paint, are among his most iconic creations, each one a unique interpretation of Diné stories.

“Earth Spirit”
Wood, Mixed Media, 2025
40″ x 13.5″ x 8″ base

Sheldon Harvey’s art is more than a visual experience; it is a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation, Navajo spirituality and universal humanity. Through his paintings and sculptures, he articulates a life rooted in Diné values while reaching across cultures to share stories that resonate with all. As he continues to create and inspire, Harvey remains a vital force in Native American art, carrying forward the legacy of his ancestors with every brushstroke and carving.

Earth Spirit”
Wood, Mixed Media, 2025
35″ x 15″ x 8″ base

At Chimayo Trading Del Norte, located near the historic San Francisco de Asís Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos, we showcase an exceptional collection of Harvey’s paintings and sculptures. His latest works, including mixed media sculptures that stand like “sentinels” of Navajo folklore and maginificent oil paintings that harken viewers back to another time to experience the depth of Diné culture through his creative lens.

“Earth Spirit”
Wood, Mixed Media, 2025
42″ x 15″ x 10″ base

If you have enjoyed our newsletters and learning about the artists and artwork we represent, or if you’ve had a good experience visiting our gallery, please take a moment to let us know by leaving a review using the links below.

Come to the gallery to see where History Meets Art in Taos..

#1 Saint Francis Church Plaza
Ranchos de Taos, NM 87557

575.758.0504

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Contact us directly to discuss and evaluate your collection. If you’re an artist, contact us about the possibility of selling your art on consignment or direct wholesale purchase.

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