I have on my mind right now, for a variety reasons, the way all the little chips and pieces of existence lock together into this larger pattern that we call life.
People. History. Memory.
Sight and sound and scent and taste.
Breath. Love.
Every wisp of sensation, every tendril of experience, from birth onward . . . each its own little piece, sometimes rubbing against others, sanding down rough edges or breaking off into jagged shards, some remaining resolutely, insistently segregated from the larger interlocking pattern. Yet all form part of the mosaic of Life with a capital L, an organic piece of existential art that displays a host of imperfections that nonetheless combine to add to the beauty of the whole.
In my own life recently, a couple of those chips have eroded a bit more as the people they represent have journeyed on to another plane. The chips never disappear, though; their colors may fade or transform, they may lose a little mass and substance around the edges, but their very presence in history and memory ensures that they remain an essential part of the larger artwork that is life as a whole.
Considering the track of my thoughts today, today’s choice of featured items is really no surprise. We’ve actually highlighted these in an earlier post, when we reduced their price to make room for new inventory. Of the original group of some near-two dozen pairs of earrings, only three remain, those shown here today. All are by Priscilla Aguilar of Kewa Pueblo, who specializes in chip and regular inlay, and whose work we’ve carried for more years than I can remember.
I chose to lead with the turquoise pair at the top for a very specific reason. From their description in the Other Artists: Miscellaneous Jewelry gallery:
Tiny chips of brilliant blue sky, random bits of hardened rain fallen to earth, are pieced together in these inlay earrings by Priscilla Aguilar (Kewa Pueblo). Each collection of blue turquoise chips is bisected by an inlaid sterling silver heartline, all placed gently into a slender sterling silver bezel. Backed by pale green banded serpentine.
Sterling silver; blue turquoise; banded serpentine
$235 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Now on sale at $100 off: $135 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The reason I chose these as the lead item is simple: the heartline. On a morning after losing a valued member of a community of which we are a small part, on a morning when my thoughts are inextricably intertwined with all the myriad chips and pieces of life that bind us all together, the heartline exemplifies the spirit that infuses it and all of us together.
I’ve written about the motif before: We use the term “heartline,” although there are some who call it the “breathline” or the “lifeline,” but the meaning is always the same — the pathway by which the animating spirit that gives life to a being enters and wends its way through the body to and past the heart. It evokes the look and feel of a lightning bolt, and in some cultures, lightning can fulfill a similar, if symbolic, animating function. Priscilla uses it regularly in her earrings, the line tracing the space next to the head and neck, pointing downward toward the wearer’s own heart. It’s a way of capturing the imagery even absent the presence of an animal spirit to embody it, a way to wear the symbolism on one’s own body.
Not all of her work features the heartline, but it’s no less beautiful and inspirited for that. Our two remaining pairs by her both feature stones that hold places of special significance in various indigenous cultures: sacred to some; not sacred but artistically and culturally important to others.
The first is pipestone, shown here paired with brilliant green malachite. From their description:
Sterling silver bezels in a triangle shape hold inlaid squares of pipestone, sacred to many of the peoples of the North. Bits of banded green malachite, edged with sterling silver, accent the center. By Priscilla Aguilar (Kewa Pueblo). Pipestone on the reverse side.
Sterling silver; pipestone; malachite
$235 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Now on sale at $100 off: $135 + shipping, handling, and insurance
SOLD
We’ve covered pipestone at length here before. Although it is strictly sacred only to certain of our northern peoples, it has become yet another motif that has been adopted as a bit of an intertribal symbol. It’s a rich a beautiful stone in its own right, and there are places in the country (Utah, for example), where deposits of the stone exist to which Native artists from this part of the country are permitted access (the sacred northern quarries are very strictly limited). You can read more about pipestone here. If you’re interested in knowing more about malachite, the beautiful green stone that forms the triangular inner accents, you can read about it here.
Finally, we come to the last pair, rendered in the same combination of colors as those just above: red and green, colors of blood and the plants of the earth, evoking both soil and water and all things feminine. From their description:
Small squares of spring green serpentine are carefully inlaid around a central diamond-shaped piece of natural coral edged in sterling silver. By Priscilla Aguilar (Kewa Pueblo), each is backed by banded green serpentine and trimmed with a sterling silver bezel.
Sterling silver; green serpentine; coral; banded serpentine
$235 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Now on sale at $100 off: $135 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It’s a beautiful contrast, the green of the grass with the blood-red color of a spirit from the waters. you can read in depth about coral here, and about the role this beautiful material, this once-living being now transmuted into a new yet eternal form, plays in Native art.
It speaks to me of the eternal nature of life, or existence, of the notion that our journey around this sacred hoop does not end. At some point, our spirits may assume a new and different form, one that those still on this plane are not generally able to perceive in the usual ways. But the spirit remains an essential part of our personal mosaic of life: a different form, a different shade, a different feel, perhaps, but still there, and still an ineradicable part of the beauty of the whole.
~ 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.
