We have devoted this week to the spirits of medicine, and to those of earth and sky who help guide us along their path. It’s a path that we do not, cannot walk alone; we navigate with the aid both of medicine and of the power of its spirits.
For this month, we are devoting this space to sculptural works, ones manifest in the bright warm shades of the season, by master carvers of a couple of different Pueblos. Last week, it was Wings’s own cousin, Paul Dancebow; for the remainder of this month, it will be the works of his friend, Mark Swazo-Hinds of Tesuque Pueblo.
And since one of our themes this week has been one of the gifts of the earth, a medicine that grows as a cactus, one with inherently dangerous properties that our peoples have nonetheless used for millennia for healing, it seems a perfect time to feature some of Mark’s spirit beings that, in various Pueblo cosmologies, may be invoked to bless plants and crops.
Today, it’s a quartet of small related works, sandstone spirits in the form of Maidens, features and dress and detailing wrought in the image of the traditional Corn Maiden. They may, of course, fill other roles; part of the genius of this set is that their form and shape is specific enough to give hints as to their identity, but their gifts and blessings they provide may still surprise the recipient.
A set they may be, but they are not bound to each other; each exists separately, the holder of its own identity and power, and is accordingly offered individually. All are summoned from treated sandstone with a texture silken as soapstone and a surface as changeable as the sun, soft ivory with a pale pumpkin orange beneath. Mark has given each traditional hair and face, geometric features beneath a line of bangs; what shows of the traditional dress is simple in the extreme, with lightning bolts, spare hoops, or even no adornment on the front. In lieu of the more iconic tablita, Mark has given each a headdress of brilliant macaw plumes. It produces a decidedly autumnal effect, spirits of the plants and earth dressed in the colors of the autumn leaves and sky.
From their description in the Other Artists: Sculpture gallery here on the site:
Master carver Mark Swazo-Hinds (Tesuque Pueblo) coaxes stylized Corn Maidens from plain smooth blocks of stone. Each is hand-carved from very pale, very fine pink sandstone, almost a translucent peach in color. With surfaces so smooth you can hardly keep from touching them, they feel a bit like large worry stones. In lieu of the traditional tablita headdress, each wears Mark’s trademark bundle of brilliantly-hued macaw feathers. All dimensions are approximate: The two smaller ones are in the 3″-4″ high range; the largest is about 6″; the one in the back on the far right is about 5″ high, and is narrower — almost an inverted teardrop shape.
Pink sandstone; macaw feather bundles
Far left: $275 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Middle: $425 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Far right: $275 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Back: $325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Weight requires special handling; extra shipping charges apply
In Wings’s group photo of the set, above, the bright autumn sun sets them alight: They glow from within and without, their headdresses brilliant feathery jewels. But even in shadow, Their beauty and character are apparent:
The largest of the four, with jewelry and other accents on her dress, and a profusion of rainbow colors among the feathers in her headdress. $425 + shipping, handling, and insurance.
The second largest, tall, but slender, showing her face only in semi-profile, dress adorned with a traditional inverted thunderhead pattern and her headdress the colors of the waters, rich blues and greens. $325 + shipping, handling, and insurance.
The second-smallest, wearing simple hoop accents and feathers in the colors of Indian corn. $275 + shipping, handling, and insurance.
By a mere fraction, the smallest of the set, her dress bare of extraneous detail, her headdress the same glowing sun-like shade of the subsurface stone itself. $275 + shipping, handling, and insurance.
Each is unique, each possessed of its own essential identity and character. And yet, each seems to embody the spirit she represents, wholly of the earth, and yet simultaneously a part of the autumn light — changeable spirits for a changeable season.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
