Rhonda Holy Bear~(Wakah Wayuphika Win)~( Making With Exceptional Skills Woman) Specializing in highly detailed Doll Figures from the Great Plains Tribes
Rhonda Holy Bear was born in South Dakota in 1959. Rhonda is a Lakota doll artist. She has been creating dolls for over 35 years. She spent her formative years on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota and, later, in Chicago. Rhonda would eventually move to the southwest, settling in New Mexico and, most recently, Las Vegas Nevada.
As a youth, Rhonda researched the work of her ancestors in the vaults of the Chicago Field museum. Her meticulous research and artistic gifts would establish Rhonda as a notable leader in her field. Her innovative dolls, a combination of sculpture and traditional techniques, have elevated the prominence of Plains Indian dolls in contemporary Native American art. What were once primarily considered playthings are now highly collectible art figures.
Her work has been prominently displayed in museums and private collections in United States and around the world. Most recently, her work has been featured in Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, the Art Institute of Chicago and Musée Du Quai Branly, Paris France. Rhonda was recently honored in a naming ceremony in her native South Dakota. Her Lakota name is "Wakah Wayuphika Win" (Making with Exceptional Skills Woman).
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Rhonda Holy Bear was born in South Dakota in 1959. Rhonda is a Lakota doll artist. She has been creating dolls for over 35 years. She spent her formative years on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota and, later, in Chicago. Rhonda would eventually move to the southwest, settling in New Mexico and, most recently, Las Vegas Nevada.
As a youth, Rhonda researched the work of her ancestors in the vaults of the Chicago Field museum. Her meticulous research and artistic gifts would establish Rhonda as a notable leader in her field. Her innovative dolls, a combination of sculpture and traditional techniques, have elevated the prominence of Plains Indian dolls in contemporary Native American art. What were once primarily considered playthings are now highly collectible art figures.
Her work has been prominently displayed in museums and private collections in United States and around the world. Most recently, her work has been featured in Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, the Art Institute of Chicago and Musée Du Quai Branly, Paris France. Rhonda was recently honored in a naming ceremony in her native South Dakota. Her Lakota name is "Wakah Wayuphika Win" (Making with Exceptional Skills Woman).
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STUNNING!! Beyond beautiful!! Spirits live here!! <3
Wow! Beautiful
Magnificent.
Awesome, would have liked to know how big they are. The article refers to them as dolls, but they are works of art!
Absolutely beautiful work.