Mavasta Honyouti (Hopi) is a noted Hopi katinsa carver.  He is the son of Ronald Honyouti, and lives in Hotevilla, Hopi Third Mesa.  Mavasta carves scenes in low-relief as part of his plaque collection.  He has won several awards, including Best of Katisinas at the Santa Fe Indian Market two years in a row.  He is creating a series of pieces that are hollowed out, like a vessel!  They are then carved on various levels. This piece has a cricket katsina on the top part.  Note the flower carved in relief on the back of the cricket and below are carved feathers.  The bottom part has sunflowers, rain clouds, and butterflies. The bottom half is hollowed out, like a jar!  The piece is fully painted.  It is signed “M Honyouti”.

About the Cricket Katsina:

The Hopi Pueblo Cricket Katsina, or Susöpa, appears as a racer, although many Hopi will say that he appears only at night in the kivas.  This seems to be a difference among villages.  Usually this katsina appears with a black bandolier over his chest, represented here by a black yarn strip.  He is sometimes pictured with a tuff of small feathers in place of ears.  The ears on this carving are made from string.  Two bundles of grasses point upward from the ears but they are missing from this carving.