Lomayoosi designs



Lomayoosi designs

About The Artist

Jonah Hill • flagstaff, AZ
Jewelry • WHOLESALE AVAILABLE • CUSTOM COMMISSIONS

I am from a small village on the Hopi reservation called Kykotsmovi. I am Tobacco and Rabbit clans and am a full time metalsmith. I primarily work in tufa cast and cuttlebone cast jewelry and dub my style Neo-traditional. I try to capture the essence of place in my work and gain inspiration from my experience as a river guide in order to capture the feeling of connection to the Earth and its history. I hope to instill in my art a sense of comfort and wearability that brings joy and happiness.



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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

I primarily use the tufa and cuttlebone cast methods which entail carving a form into the material and using a tufa stone backing to create a two piece mold that is held together with a recycled bicycle tube and into which molten metal is poured. I also create using the overlay and fabrication techniques to produce more commercial work.


What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

I enjoy the process of creating jewelry with metal because it utilizes a a material that was not traditionally used among my tribe. It gives me a new medium to express my culture and upbringing in a way that is tangible and able to travel with the wearer. I like the idea that my work creates an opportunity to connect stranger to stranger and the space to create story and dialogue with others and to instill a sense of place in the world.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

I try to not conform to the titles of Traditional and Contemporary in my work I use the self created term, Neo-Traditional, to describe my work because I like to imagine what sort of work would have been done a thousand years ago if my people had the knowledge and techniques to work metal and how it would look in todays time. My work is described as comfortable and the highest compliment that I receive is that the owner wears it everyday and feels as if there is something missing in their life if not wearing my work.