Jessica Wiarda of Honovi Design
Jessica Wiarda of Honovi Design - Jessica Wiarda’s Honovi Design incorporates Hopi artwork into the silk scarves, chiffons, kimonos, bomber jackets and more that make up her growing catalog. “Many of the Hopi tribe imagery has some Aztecan and Anasazi influences within its 2000-year history," Wiarda says.
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Honovi Design: Craft Lake City Artisan

By
August 3, 2022

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With the largest number of vendors to date, The 14th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival Presented By Harmons returns to the Utah State Fairpark with an exciting variety of homegrown DIY-ers. In the following pages, we’ve highlighted some craft foodies, inventors, performers, vintage curators and members of the next generation of artisans that will be participating in this year’s bustling event. Check out craftlakecity.com for more information about The 14th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival.

“The most skilled artists can paint straight onto pottery and make a perfectly unified composition,” Wiarda says.
Photo: John Barkiple

Jessica Wiarda’s Honovi Design incorporates Hopi artwork into the silk scarves, chiffons, kimonos, bomber jackets and more that make up her growing catalog. Honovi Design was born in 2018 after Wiarda ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund her venture.

“I’ll often start with black lines on a white background,” Wiarda says. According to her, Hopi art is organically geometric, and many Hopi artists don’t have a clear idea of what they are making until they start. Many of Wiarda’s designs follow this guidance through repeating patterns or motifs (hard lines encasing flowing, rounded patterns), often swatched in soothing colors and sometimes in bright primaries. “The most skilled artists can paint straight onto pottery and make a perfectly unified composition,” she says. “Many of the Hopi tribe imagery has some Aztecan and Anasazi influences within its 2000-year history.”

The Hopi tribe is private, and Wiarda sometimes struggles to give herself permission to represent Hopi in her work. “I’m always debating what I should and should not put on apparel that will be worn by natives and non-natives,” Wiarda says. “I think it’s important for younger generations to see that we are still here, existing and thriving under a society that has systematically tried to silence our voices.”

You can find Wiarda’s work at honovi.bigcartel.com and at the Utah Diné Bikéyah Bears Ears Coalition exhibit, located within The Leonardo, through 2023.

Read about past Craft Lake City artisans:
ScarabDolls: Craft Lake City Artisan
Impartworks: Craft Lake City Artisan