Today, it’s the second day of our weekend holiday feature of the work of Mark Swazo-Hinds and his iconic sandstone spirit beings. Yesterday, we looked at Mark’s enormous (in both senses of the word) sandstone medicine bear, and back in October, we brought you one of his smaller bears in a different stone medium.
Today, it’s a set of distinctly Pueblo spirit beings. We’ve talked about Corn Maidens here before, but these are given form Mark’s own highly characteristic style. From their description in the Other Artists: Sculpture Gallery:
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
Below are photos of the individual figurative pieces, showing the unique detail each possesses. First, the large one:
Her mouth is open to sing, and her stylized macaw-feather tablita headdress glows in warm primary shades of blue, red, and yellow. When I look at her traditional dress, I see signs of the weather that accompany her presence: a lightning bolt flanked by drops of life-sustaining rain.
$425 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The second figure is one that doesn’t show in the group photo above. It’s there, but only the blue and green macaw feathers of the headdress are visible on the right at back:
It’s a Maiden in profile, a bit of stylized side-eye, and beautifully unusual way of putting a smaller, differently-shaped piece of stone to good use. Like the one above, her dress features symbolism sometimes used to represent weather: a thunderhead pattern, or rather, half a thunderhead, since Mark has maintained the “profile” motif below the face, as well. This one is my favorite, perhaps mostly because it’s so different, but also because I love the rich blues and greens of her feathered headdress.
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The two smaller ones are very close in size and style, but there are differences. The larger of the two has the greater diversity of detail:
Again, there are understated patterns on her dress, ones that for me evoke raindrops. Her headdress is much like that of the largest piece: Silky down feathers in a vibrant array of colors, blues and greens, oranges and reds, with a few subtle earth tones for contrast.
$275 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The last of the series, almost-imperceptibly smaller than the one immediately above, is also the simplest, with a spare, elegant design:
Her address is entirely unadorned, and her headdress is composed entirely of feathers in brilliant flame-like orange hues that set off the peach undertones of the carving perfectly. It’s a piece that feels whole, fully integrated, entirely one in its simplicity.
$275 + shipping, handling, and insurance
These are solid, substantial, weighty pieces, as befits their symbolism and significance. They’re also balanced to sit on a flat surface without need of a pedestal. They are the embodiment of blessings, markers of abundance.
And on a dawn like this, when the skies are gray and fog shrouds the earth, they’re a a bit of the brilliant desert sunlight brought indoors to brighten the day.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
