Our world today is filled with sun and haze: the latter part rampant pollen, part free-floating dust from yesterday’s winds, and part smoke from some fire too distant for us to see the ignition point. At this point; sight is unnecessary anyway; my lungs know the truth of its existence.
The haze makes our world shimmer in a different way from how it glows on those days of perfect sun-filled clarity. think of the effect of dust motes in a sunbeam, extended from each horizon to its opposite, and you’ll have some sense of the day. Last night, though, was a different matter, the clouds having parted entirely to unveil the [mostly] full moon in all her close and radiant glory.
The colonial world has talked much this year of supermoons and blood moons and pink moons, always giving them some “Native American” name that doesn’t actually exist, and breathlessly warning that we will not see another like it for years. Most of them, here, at least, have been decidedly underwhelming: no supersize, no “blood,” no pink,” no apparent closeness to us.
Until last night.
For us, last night was perhaps the first so-called “supermoon” this year: large, close, and pure amber at the horizon. It whitened as it rose, but didn’t diminish appreciably in apparent size. I was able to watch it rise between the pointed tops of the juniper trees outside the window as I worked, and it lit up land and sky alike throughout the night and into the morning hours. It gave the dawn a new glow, silver and gold at once against a backdrop of violet and indigo and rose in the western sky; a cosmic kaleidoscope of color, with an ethereal, otherwordly feel and a visionary spirit.
It reminded me of the radiance and color present in today’s featured work, likewise visionary, likewise kaleidoscopic in its imagery, with a feel of cosmic weight and wisdom infusing and fusing the collective imagery of the piece. From its description in the Other Artists: Wall Art gallery here on the site:
Chief Jo’s Vision Framed Collage
This framed collage by Preston Bellringer (Yakama/Assiniboine) melds ancient prophecies with modern media in a piece that harks back to a ’60s ethos and feel. The iconic central photograph of Chief Joseph in the upper half of the collage is surrounded by a complex synthesis of images in multiple media: photography, paint, pen and ink, even children’s stick-on decals, all telling a layered intertribal story of warriors protecting the people in their quest for a better time, a better place, one of peace. The studded wood frame is 25.25″ high by 8.5″ wide; the visible image (no glass cover) is 22.75″ high by 6″ wide (all dimensions approximate).
Mixed media; wood
$125 + shipping, handling, and insurance
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The outside world is a hard place now, one filled with dangers we cannot see but that are no less real and deadly for that. Closer to home, there is loss and grief, too, and the nagging worries about what the future holds. It’s a time when we need to dig deep for courage and strength of heart, for a steadfastness of spirit, and for a visionary wisdom to guide our steps and acts.
We could do worse than to look to the models presented here. We could do worse than to look to the skies. Above us, all around us, is always a cosmic kaleidoscope. It’s up to us to find the patterns and put them to work for the people.
~ Aji
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