Matthew Bahi, Wool Sheep, 2025, acrylic on canvas

Matthew Bahe’s Wool Sheep (2025) is a striking example of how contemporary Diné painters are reworking tradition through a distinctly modern lens. Bahe draws on Surrealism, using a crisp, uninterrupted blue sky as a stage for layered imagery that feels at once precise and deliberately strange. The result is an image that holds together visually while inviting the viewer to slow down and unpack its many references.

At the center of the painting stands a sheep, already sheared, its pale body set against the desert landscape. Sheep hold deep importance in Diné life as a source of food, wool, and wealth, and Bahe makes that significance explicit. The animal’s legs extend downward and transform into spindles, the tools used to spin wool into yarn. This visual shift links the living animal directly to the labor of weaving and to the textiles for which Diné artists are widely known. That connection is echoed in the woven pattern that frames the upper portion of the painting, reinforcing the cycle from sheep to fiber to finished textile.

Bahe continues to layer meaning through symbolic details. Along the bottom, decorative patterns frame a sheep shearer placed at the center, grounding the work in the physical act of labor. Across the top, similar ornamental elements appear alongside a leg of lamb, a direct reference to sustenance and use. The sheep itself becomes a kind of inventory of value, showing how one animal supports many aspects of life.

Despite the density of imagery, the painting never feels crowded. Bahe’s careful composition and clean, controlled details keep each element legible. His precision allows the work to feel both expansive and balanced, filled from edge to edge without becoming chaotic. Wool Sheep ultimately reads as a thoughtful meditation on interdependence, skillfully blending cultural knowledge, visual storytelling, and a quietly surreal sensibility.