Last night’s brief rain was just enough to leave us a glittering world this morning. It’s nowhere near enough, of course, and while the monsoonal patterns are starting early this year, they are noticeably short on actual precipitation. Short on water, too, is the flow from upstream — not a drop has reached the pond yet.
But we have hope, and prayer, and the work. And if we are fortunate, there will be water in the pond by day’s end, and perhaps a few of those small shimmering messenger spirits that are the hallmark of summer’s arrival.
When I chose the themes for this week, I had not thought ahead as far as Friday. Typically, I settle on them on Sunday, sometimes not fully until Monday or even Tuesday, and the imagery that launches a new week informs the art, wearable and otherwise, offered throughout the remainder of that week’s posts. This week has been unusually harried for all sorts of reasons, from pandemic to weather to water to the costs that accompany them all, and I did not fully decide on the focal points of each day’s posts until the day itself. And it only occurred to me last night that for our Friday Feature series this week, we had the perfect work to highlight in keeping with all of the week’s themes.
This is a work from the days of our brick-and-mortar gallery. It’s one of two by Comanche artist Tim Saupitty that Wings acquired many years ago, both of like size and imagery, but on of a male dancer (which he is not, at least thus far, willing to part with), and this one of a female dancer in full traditional dress. This piece hung on the wall of the old gallery near the fireplace. About eleven years ago, climate change delivered extreme weather conditions that we knew at the time were a sign of far worse to come, but at that moment, we were all busy coping with the immediate effects. Three feet of snow and subzero temperatures from a late-December storm had given way to highs in the sixties in January of that year. The old village ran with rivers of red mud, so deep and dangerous that heavy earth-moving equipment had to be brought in to clear it away and shore up the ground. It was followed later that year by heavy wet snows that could not be cleared from the roofs immediately, with the result that many of the thousand-year-old structures sustained water damage.
The gallery was one; runoff cascaded down the side of the flue and compromised the integrity of the wall . . . and slightly damaged this work. Most of the damage is on the reverse, a tear in the paper backing the frame, some water damage to the upper corner of the canvas, but a small amount of water staining is visible in the upper corner of the front. You can’t see it in the photo, because the soft colors and delicate shading of the air-spray make it seem like part of the work. But it’s there, and so the price is reduced by nearly half, as shown below. From its description in the Other Artists: Wall Art gallery here on the site:
Renowned Comanche artist Tim Saupitty created a matched pair of air-spray paintings in watercolor hues, images of a man and woman in full traditional dress. The male figure remains in Wings’s private collection; he has put the female figure on offer. Whether viewed as a dancer or a bride, she is wholly traditional, with beaded buckskin cape, light blue shawl, eagle-feather fan, and eagle plume in her long braided hair; the spirits of deer and dragonflies dance all around her. The colors are simultaneous delicate and bold, the stylized human figure the artist’s hallmark; the interplay of light and shadow surrounds her with beauty and mystery and spiritual power. The entire image, including frame, is 38 inches high by 30 inches wide; the visible portion of the painting is 29.5 inches high by 21.25 inches wide (dimensions approximate). Close-up and full views shown below.
Note: This piece sustained mild water damage in the lower left corner and back due to a leak in the 1,000-year-old gallery in which it once hung. It has accordingly been reduced in price by nearly 50%.
Textured paper; air-spray paint; wood frame with glass
$2,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Permanent markdown: Reduced to $1,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Note: Size and fragility require special handling; extra shipping charges apply
Ironic, perhaps, that summery weather in the depths of winter should have precipitated the damage to this piece. Because this, to me, has always been a work of and for the summer season: for powwows and feast days and dancing, for the days of long light when it is possible to see both Deer and Dragonfly in the wild. Both of these spirits surround the painting’s subject, perhaps a butterfly or two, but all are rendered in translucent shades of gray, as though they indeed belong to the spirit world.
Perhaps it’s meant as a reminder that we live in the embrace of the spirits, including our guardians and guides, whether we can see them or not. Perhaps it’s simple aesthetic choice by the artist.
Perhaps it’s both.
But whenever I look at this particular work, I’m struck by the contrast between the rainbow of her regalia and muted shades of the smaller spirits, by the way they envelop and embrace her, as though protecting her as she dances. And it reminds me that, even in these days when gatherings are made impossible, we can — and do — still dance.
And we have plenty of reason to do so now. For all practical purposes, the warm season is here; its spirits are arriving on the wind and with the water. We dance in the act of going about our days now: dancing in a longer light, safe in the embrace of the summer spirits.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
