Verma Nequatewa (Sonwai)
b. 1946
Verma Nequatewa, her parents and siblings are all artists. She was born, lives, and works at Hotevilla, a village on Third Mesa, a part of the Hopi reservation near Holbook, Arizona. She attributes her interest in her art to her uncle, world-renowned jeweler, Charles Loloma (1921-1991), with whom she worked with for twenty-three years. She signs her work Sonwai,
the feminine counterpart to loloma in the Hopi language, which means beautiful.
For her art, Verma combines her Hopi heritage and skills learned from her uncle. She uses only the highest quality material when creating award-winning works that consists of jewelry design and lapidary work the craft of working, forming and finishing stone, and gemstones, into decorative items.
