Our focus here this week has mirrored our focus offline: on the new signs of spring, early and still a bit apprehensive. It is, by the calendar’s reckoning, at least, still winter, and despite the bold bluster of the winds, the nascent green knows, as do we, that there will be more snow yet to come.
Still, watching the earth slowly shed its blanket of gray-brown dormancy in favor of one woven in verdant hues is a welcome development. And so, we’re focusing this week on the things of the earth in their spring dress: bright blue skies, warm brown soil, rich green blades of grass. They are the colors of a topographical map of Turtle Island, and they have always found expression in Wings’s work.
For this week’s edition of #ThrowbackThursday, we’re going back about a decade, to the time when we first began getting photos of Wings’s work, preparatory to building his online gallery. He made this piece sometime in 2006, if memory serves, and I believe it sold in 2007. It was a time when he had begun experimenting with new interpretations of the traditional conchas used in the iconic belts, and while we he continued to create concha belts in a variety of shapes, he had by that point settled on this scalloped motif as one of his own signature styles.
And a beautiful style it is: graceful and flowing, with a subtle yet dynamic sense of motion to it, as though each individual shell-like medallion is dancing over its own small waterfall . . . or perhaps taking flight, aiming for more celestial seas. In this particular instance, the heavenly motif is appropriate, considering the simple but powerful symbolism he imparted to each individual concha: the sun symbol, popularly known as the Zia symbol.
It’s true that a version of this image is the symbol (and the logo) of Zia Pueblo, situated north and ever so slightly west of Albuquerque. It’s also the design on the New Mexico state flag, appropriated wholesale and without request or approval from the sacred motifs of that nation. In that incarnation, it’s been appropriated, commodified, commercialized, and distributed by non-Natives the world over for their own profit, stripping most manifestations of it of all power and meaning. But that version nonetheless belongs to the people of Zia, and it possess very specific meaning for them that no one can truly take away.
Their version, however, is not the only version. The basic structure of it is an ancient symbol, one that has been used by the peoples of this broader region since time immemorial: a central orb, from which spokes radiate to the Four Sacred Directions. In some versions, the number of spokes on each varies; in Wings’s hands, it’s always the classic four-spoke incarnation. it is a sun symbol, yes, but one that also embodies notions of the life cycle, of the clockwise hoop-like progression of our days and years and lives, all manifest through the sacred number. Four is one of those numbers that finds symbolic expression in many of our cultures, and the spokes here can be interpreted in a variety of ways: four directions, four winds, four seasons, four elements, four sacred medicines, four stages of life. In the work of any given artist, such imagery may be used to represent all of these, some combination thereof, others, none at all, but in Wings’s work, the number four — particularly when expressed as its exponent, as here; sixteen, or four times four — it’s a motif mean to embody great elemental and spiritual power.
The concha belt pictured above was a perfect example. Each individual concha was cut freehand in his signature flowing shape, then filed smooth. He has a number of sun-symbol stamps in the spoked motif, but for this one, he chose to create the sun sign himself, entirely freehand. On each concha, he scored the spokes by hand, four placed to each cardinal direction, each collection consisting of two long spokes flanked by two shorter ones. It’s laborious work, keeping the line pattern consistent. He elected to leave the spokes as the only stampwork on the conchas, allowing the power of the symbol itself to speak, uninterrupted by extraneous detail.
He then set each concha with a bezel placed carefully at the center of the spoke pattern: just a simple round scalloped bezel, trimmed in twisted silver. Once the settings were soldered firmly into place, it was time to set the stones. For this belt, he chose a set of round, lightly-domed cabochons from the same collection: all Nevada turquoise in clear bright blues and greens. The name of the mine from which they came is now lost, in any definitive sense, to the mists of memory, but based on appearance, they came most likely either from Royston or from the Fox Mine, formerly known as the Cortez. The dark green overlayer in the matrix resembles much of what is found at Royston, but my money is on Fox: The robin’s-egg blue stone with the patchy layers of bright green atop it are classic examples of what’s found at the mine named various for tricksters and conquerors. Whatever the source, what makes their choice so perfect for this work is precisely that look — it brings together the symbols of the sky with the colors of the earth itself, shimmering silver light embracing the blues and greens of water and land alike, a topographical map of our world arrayed in a series of snapshots, each from a different vantage point, to create a universe in miniature.
Then, the buckle. Sometimes, Wings creates concha belts with a buckle in the exact same size and shape as the conchas themselves; other times, as with his most recent such work, in the same shape but a larger size. This one was unusual in that he chose to make the concha buckle in a different shape entirely: a perfect circle, picking up and reinforcing the motif of the center orb of the sun symbol used on the belt conchas themselves. it was slightly larger than the other conchas, designed to stand out a bit from the rest of the belt, but centered with the same sun symbol design built around a beautiful, intensely-hued cabcchon from the same collection, this one in classic cool sky blue overlaid with a warm mossy green matrix. At the outer edge of the longest spokes, a half-inch or so from the edge, he placed a freehand hoop of blossom symbols in a repeating pattern, each one stamped individually. to create imagery of growth and renewal.
Finally, it was time to string the conchas onto the belt. Wings does not buy the belts ready-made; he makes his own. Ih this instance, he used a heavy strip of black leather, hand-cut and then hand-beveled at either edge. At repeating intervals along its length, he stamped a single symbol freehand: the bear’s paw, a powerful symbol not only of protection but especially of Medicine. He punched the buckle end and added the classic two-strand loop and tie, also hand-cut and hand-beveled from the same black leather.
It was an exceptionally powerful piece, one that embodied a millennium of tradition and spirits much older yet. To me, it’s a work that has always bespoken warmth and abundance: the spirits of spring and summer, telling the story of our world.
~ 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.
