In light of Wings’s new work from yesterday, featuring feminine spirits in elemental form, I thought today would be a good day to revisit one of his earlier big pieces containing similar motifs.
Today, we go back almost a decade, to 2006, when he created the big bold cuff shown above. It was, at the time, the second-largest in his then-current inventory, a little higher in price than most of the other pieces on offer right then. It was a work that, in symbolic terms, brought together the spirit beings of the natural world to embrace and support a spectacularly large gift of the Earth.
The stone was onyx, a broad oval of considerable physical depth. Its visual depth was greater still: a seemingly liquid lake of solid black, yet so glossy that, staring at it, it seemed that you were staring into it, being a given a glimpse of other worlds captured deep within the stone. Those qualities would prove to make it a perfect choice for the band on which he set it, embodying the grounding properties of Earth itself.
And the band was breathtaking in its simplicity and power. It was of a fairly heavy gauge, weighty and substantial, chased with symbols evoking the other elemental powers. Down the band’s center, matched thunderhead symbols, the union of Air and Water, created a repeating pattern that brought to mind the people’s ancient kiva steps motif: a sacred space with points radiating to the sacred directions, cardinal and ordinal alike. That line of symbols was flanked on either side by a pair of flowing lines, evocations of Water in perhaps its most basic and powerful incarnation. A few millimeters from either edge he scored a single line, then filled the interstices with chased rising suns — Fire in its most fundamental form.
The imagery likewise evoke the Sky Spirits: Father Sun, the clouds that join together to bring the rain. But there was one Sky Spirit remaining, and Wings did not forget her: our Grandmother, the Moon. Atop the band’s center, he created a bezel to embrace the earthen jewel: a single wide strip of sterling silver, edged in delicate twisted silver, and hand-stamped in a repeated pattern of crescent moons, a classically feminine motif to balance the male imagery of the suns.
The entire cuff bespoke great elemental power, but he softened it, made it accessible, touchable, wearable by giving the silver a soft Florentine finish. It had the effect of “aging” the piece, but it also made its innate beauty perceptible to human senses. After all, as some of our traditions know, it’s unwise to look at the spirits directly, when they manifest at full power and strength; to do so invites unwitting destruction. Lightly veiled, we can just dimly see these elemental beings, but we can always comprehend the blessings they bring.
In this work, he harnessed them all — elemental forces, spirits of earth and sky — melding the symbols of their power into a single wearable talisman.
~ 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.
