At the end of a week in which we have explored the capacity for dreaming worlds into being, it is, perhaps, time to consider of what those worlds themselves might dream.
For those follow news beyond the networks, the headlines are full of a “new” recognition, one that asserts that water is life. We have known this since the time before time; it is not a truth confined to the threat of modern pipelines nor to the contemporary realities of climate change. It has always been an elemental truth to Wings’s people, and to my own. My people, part of the world of a one set of great waters, have always understood the power of the water born of sky, and that born of earth.
For Wings’s people, it’s an understanding tinged with greater urgency for its scarcity.
Rain here is life itself, even in winter when it assumes a fluffy white form. The monsoon season and the winter snowpack are determinative of the quality of life here in the warmer months, of the capacity for planting and of the size of the harvest. In years with little precipitation, all of life trades abundance for austerity.
But for his people, water is not merely the life of the body, but of the spirit. The indigenous heart of this place is their sacred Blue Lake, a place that belongs to them and to them alone. It sustains their spirits in ways that are both indescribably and incomprehensible to the outside world, yet are every bit as real as the way in which the rain sustains the corn and beans and squash.
Water is life, and people and place alike dream of its presence in order to survive.
It’s a vision that has always informed Wings’s work, one that has inspired and enabled him to dream worlds into being through his art. And it both inspires and inspirits the works in his newest informal collection, the first entry in which we brought you on Wednesday.
Today, we bring you the second in the series. From its description in the Earrings Gallery here on the site:
The World Dreams of Water Earrings
In a land of dry earth, the world dreams of water. The people of this place know this dream better than most, and Wings’s new earrings envision both world and water into being. A pair of matched freeform cabochons of ribbon turquoise, earthy brown traced with sky-blue streams and set into simple scalloped bezels, form the focal point. At the bottom of each cabochon are suspended three small round raindrops in the form of Sleeping Beauty Skystones, each set in its own saw-toothed bezel: the dream of rain given form and shape. Each earrings is 1-3/16″ long (excluding wires) by 3/4″ across at the widest point; the ribbon cabochons are 15/16″ long by 1/2″ across at the widest point (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; ribbon turquoise; Sleeping Beauty turquoise
$675 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The dominant culture spends a great deal of time encouraging individuals to pursue their own metaphorical dreams. It is, at times, a laudable goal, and it’s one that our cultures have always taken to heart in very literal terms: To our peoples, dreams and visions are as much a part of life as the empirical world of our waking hours, and at least as worthy of heeding.
But one thing we tend to forget is that we are not the only ones who dream. In our way, all is animated by spirit: the animals, the plants, the earth and sky, the water in all its forms. Perhaps it’s time to consider what the dreams of Mother Earth might be . . . if we are to leave a better, more visionary world to our children’s children.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
