This is the week when fall has taken hold, firmly and irrevocably. Our own trees, which are always the last in the area to change, have begun to turn their robes; only a few wildflowers remain unbowed by the chill of the night air.
And yet, some blooms remain to turn their faces sunward, and the trees, despite the turning colors of their now fast-shedding cloaks, still stand strong.
They remind me of today’s featured work, one summoned straight from a branch of one of those trees, a work in the color of the sunflowers themselves. It’s a carving by Wings’s cousin, Paul Dancebow, of an elder, but one whose face, to me, has always appeared to assume the shape and act of a traditional singer. From its description in the Other Artists: Sculpture gallery here on the site:
This traditional sculpture by carver Paul Dancebow (Taos Pueblo) is done in classic Pueblo style. Carved of cedar, his upturned face is finely detailed, as is his long hair, tied back in traditional style. He’s wrapped in a blanket, and his body curves gently, following the natural line of the wood. He stands atop an alabaster base, golden in color with silver-white matrices throughout. Another view shown below.
Cedar on alabaster base
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The cedar is smooth as silk and as golden yellow as the sun and the wild flowers who share its name. It arises out of a polished chink of alabaster tinged with silver and gold, flacks of mica and other minerals turning ordinary white stone into a translucent earth colored with clear hints of the sun.
In our cultures, both men and women do the planting. We have long traditions of conversing with the plants, speaking to them, praying for them, singing to them to help them grow. This work, a spirit emerging from tree and wood to sing, seems to me the very embodiment of one who plants, who cultivates, who harvests, singing the flowers into being.
At this time of year, his work is especially welcome, singing the few remaining flowers tall and strong for the days that remain to them, and to us.
~ Aji
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