Another day of pewter skies and irresolute weather, a mercury rising unseasonably high but a forecast that predicts snow, and the feel of a storm upon the wind. We have spring buds and spring birds, as we have had throughout the whole of winter thus far, seeking sanctuary in the shadow os elemental forces that are irresolute now.
The clear evidence of colonial climate change has been upon us for some time, even as the equally colonial authorities continue to dally and dither over the steps they know are needed to bring it under any sort of control. Meanwhile, the Earth makes do as best she can, altering her patterns daily now to navigate the harms continually inflicted; her children the seasons and the winds and the sacred directions likewise are pressed into unprecedented service, creating a world whose natural structures and movements we can no longer anticipate, much less meet successfully.
For the land, time has lost all linear meaning now. The seasons no longer merely overlap; they cohabit and break apart, dance together and trade places entirely. Summer begins and ends in the space of a couple of weeks, with autumn already waiting in the wings of the June, and the leaves, too; winter delivers snow to the peaks in July and spring buds open just after Thanksgiving. Earth and air are buffeted by elemental change, a world no longer unified, but one that moves irregularly and often violently from water to fire and back again.
And yet, there is unity in the water and the fire; in the earth and air as well. It finds expression even in these dark and dangerous days in old skills and older ways, beautifully artistic reminders that water feeds and fire tempers and that the work involving both is what makes us stronger, and our people, too.
Today’s featured work is a perfect example of this dynamic — of praxis and practice, process and product. It’s an elemental work by any measure, one formed quite literally of earth, air, fire, and water to become something entirely transformed and far greater than the sum of those parts. From its description in the Other Artists: Pottery gallery here on the site:
Olivia Martinez (Taos Pueblo) infuses this traditional micaceous wedding vase with motifs of unity and love. The vase is made in the old way, hand-coiled, lightly polished, and fired to a subtle sheen. The bowl is slightly sculpted, a barely-definable ridge accenting its widest point; each spout emerges gracefully from the bowl, one angled upward at either side, each with a flowing outer lip and an inner lip that extends upward into a braided handle, symbolizing spirits united and intertwined. The entire vase stands 9.5″ high; it measures 7-3/8″ across the spouts at the widest point; and the bowl is 5″ across at its widest point (dimensions approximate).
Micaceous clay
$575 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Size, weight, and fragility require special handling; extra shipping charges apply
Wedding vases of this sort are decorative, not intended for ordinary use, or at least no more than once. But they remind me that the work that is of, for, and with a community is the sort of work that stands the test of time and survives altered circumstances better. Is it still breakable? of course, but less so: Just as a woven braid is stronger than a single strand, a mix of elements is both sturdier and more useful than a single force alone. It’s possible to drink water from the sky or cupped in one’s hands, alone . . . but how much easier, how much more efficient and effective, is it to drink, together, from a vase made of earth and water and air and fire, expressly for that purpose.
Olivia’s wedding vases always hold this wisdom for me. It’s not merely the unifying theme of the vase itself, nor even the twinned spouts. It’s her hallmark braided handle, delicate, fragile, yet more than twice as strong as a single strand would be. And to give such strength such a beautiful form reminds me of the essential beauty of genuine community.
These are among the oldest of our teachings, foundational, elemental, even, to our cultures and our lifeways and our very survival. They are lessons the world needs more than ever now, a world swinging frantically from water to fire and back again. Such elemental forces need not be extremes, nor end points, either. Integrated, they become the animating forces of community, and in turn, of ways and things of beauty.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
