Francis Leekya

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Francis Leekya
Sadly, Francis Leekya passed away. He died quietly in his sleep. His spirit
and mind were strong till the end. His body was racked by strokes
and diabetes and finally abandoned him on the
night of May 12, 2003.

Francis grew up surrounded by the great Zuni artists of
the 40's, 50's, and 60's. 


Francis
carved in the old style created many years ago by his
father
Leekya Deyuse.
Francis began his career working alongside
his father, working together with CG Wallace and later Bernie
Vanderwagon (prominent dealers of that day).

Francis and I began our collaboration in 1998.

The right side of Francis' body was already paralyzed from a stroke
 and he had difficulty speaking.  He carved by holding the stone in his
left hand and gently touching it to the grinding wheel till
 the fetish he saw emerged.

In the beginning of our collaboration, Francis carved small fetishes
as he had most of his life. In 1999, I asked Francis to try carving larger
fetishes and supplied him stone other then Zuni Rock. He loved it, the
larger colorful stones gave Francis the opportunity to explore.

From that point on, everything changed about Francis' carving.
 The fetishes literally sprung to life. No two were the same. Each carving
 had its own unique form, patterns and colors. It was surreal. Here was
this very fragile, gentle man seemingly willing chunks of stone to take
form and color as he wished

Soon, Francis' sons Hayes and Delvin began experimenting with
new materials. Hayes and Delvin shared the unusual stone they found
 with Francis. It was a wonderful time, full of surprises for me...
and I think them too.

In my opinion, the carvings that Francis Leekya made in the last years
of his life are among the finest traditional fetishes to ever come out
 of Zuni.  Francis did not make many.  If you own one, treasure it. 
If you do not... try to pry one lose from a collector who does.

Francis proudly told me that late in his father's career disability also
 forced
Leekya to carve with one hand. Francis felt even closer to his father.
 It was as if Leekya guided Francis's hands. Francis produced this old Leekya
photo for us
 

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Leekya Deyuse at the grinding wheel.

Francis then showed us this photo of his mother.

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Occasionally you will see the mark FL on a Francis Leekya fetish. 
Usually, there is no hallmark.  Francis' son Freddy also uses
the hallmark FL

We are currently offering a few Francis
 fetishes for sale - Click to View


Here are the last fetishes that Francis carved

Towards the end, Francis was very weak and in much pain. However when you look at the last carvings he made, days before his death, that is not what you see. When Francis carved he clearly transcended his body to a place of peace, strength and beauty. I believe he is there now.

I have made these images large.  Each one will take a moment longer then usual to download.  I did that so anyone interested in capturing the image and printing it would have a worthwhile print. All are welcome to do that.
 

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