Bronze Edition of 35.

 A custom practiced by some Plains Indian tribes was fashioning a leather wrapped circle and tying string through its middle in the pattern of a spider web.  An opening was left in the center of the web to which was attached various good luck charms.  Fastening the talisman to the head of a cradleboard allowed the child’s good dreams to pass through the web’s hole, trapping the malevolent forces in the web.

The Apache woman has traded for the talisman – called a Dreamcatcher – and views it in wonder and hope for her young child’s future . . .determined to give the child every advantage – using magic and mysticism to insure the child’s well being.

Photo Credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35.

From the earliest hunter-gatherers to the complex tribal clans that still exist in parts of the world today, one can observe evidence of people deeply involved in the maintenance of a beneficient relationship with Animal Spirits.  Essential to this is the intervention of the shaman, or medicine man, who acts as the intermediary between the physical world and the mysterious universe of the supernatural.  This shaman from the Sioux tribe derives his powerful medicine from Elk, which is the most sexually potent symbol in Sioux imagery; but he is supported by different animal helpers which are represented by coyote and ferret skins, hawk feathers, and many claws and herbs wrapped around his medicine hoop.  A mask of softened elk hide silences his worldly self (shamans literally cannot speak when masked) so that the animal's essence emerges during the rituals.

This costume - of an Elk Dreamer - was particularly fascinating to me because it strongly resembles the paintings of shamans found in the ancient rock paintings in Europe - confirming further the universality of the desire and attempt to achieve a spiritual connection with Animal Spirits.

Bronze Edition of 35

 Whether seen as gifts of the dolls, or gifts of her stories that pass the legacy of their people to the younger generation.  The essence of this sculpture is the value of this giving relationship between grandmother and child.

            The elders of all cultures are the wisdom keepers… those that can pass down invaluable lessons thru stories, legends, and example.

            In Pueblo cultures of the Southwest, such elders instill a sense of virtue, self worth, and tribal pride thru stories involving deities called Kachina’s.  These Kachinas play a crucial role in the survival and spirituality of the people.  Kachina dolls are given to young girls to help teach them the significance of various deities.  Here the “mudheads”, the “koshare”, and the kachina “mother” and “maiden” represent the traditional tribal dolls.  To acknowledge the outside influences in today’s Pueblo cultures, a teddy bear and sock monkey join the audience that listen with the granddaughter to ancient legends.

Photo Credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35.

"There is more to sculpting Native faces than high cheekbones," Star has said.  "To do it successfully, you must create a sense of inner character.  The piece must have an expression that reflects the way that person thinks of himself, and his place in the universe."

Star's sculpture - "Pinto Begay" - is a good illustration of this approach.  He is a Navajo medicine man bedecked in jewelry he has received in payment for his healing talents.  But his posture and stance, with a hint of swagger, remind us that stature has little to do with size.  And his gaze radiates the confidence of someone in possession of extraordinary powers.

Bronze Edition of 35.

Storytelling has always played an important role among Native Peoples.  The storyteller is at the very center of any given culture, conveying important messages about history and identity.  Values, such as respect for the natural world, love for elders and children, and the importance of family were passed along through stories.  Oral narrative has been important to most cultures throughout the ages, but the Navajo have long, detailed cycles of stories that are still remembered by a few remaining elders even today.

After attending some storytelling gatherings in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, Star decided the subject matter could offer a vehicle for depth of expression and meaning.  Storytellers are performers, using a gesture of body and face to enhance appreciation of a story and stimulate the imagination of their listeners . . . when done well, it is a true art form, conveying through entertainment, key attitudes and morals of a culture.

In this sculpture, a Navajo Grandfather is telling one of the many legends of the eagle . . . that regal bird being an important symbol in many Native American cultures.  His hands describe the bird's ascension and one can easily imagine the scene as his listeners gather around the fire and the shadow of his hands cast against the hogan wall brings the bird to life for his audience in the dancing firelight.

Bronze Edition of 35

Wintertime was storytelling time for the Navajo.  In the evenings the children would eagerly gather around the fire in the hogan to listen to their grandparents relate tribal legends.  Frequently the elders would illustrate figures in the tales with designs made from a piece of string.  In this sculpture a grandmother is telling the tale of how the Navajo gods of creation made the stars as she begins to shape a star design out of a cat's cradle.

According to Navajo mythology, when the other gods asked Black God to fill the dark night sky with stars to make it beautiful, he took a single bright crystal from a fawn-skin pouch and placed it precisely in the north.  It became North Fire, the star that never moves, which guides the nighttime traveler.  Next he placed other stars in patterns that formed the constellations.  It was left to the supernatural spirit Spider Woman to teach the Dineh (Navajo for The People) the relationship of the stellar configurations to nature.  From her they learned that by observing how the positions of the stars changed through the seasons they would know when to plant and when to harvest.

Spring games were a popular form of amusement for the Navajo - but only in the months between October and April ("when the Spider People are at rest", says Navajo lore).  Many a winter evening was pleasantly passed with a grandmother teaching her grandchildren the lessons of Spider Woman.

In many native cultures children are given, at a very early age, young animals to care for.

This not only helps out the household in learning to take over a chore, but most importantly teaches the child to nurture, and the rewards of caring for another being more helpless than oneself.  This little girl has been given a baby goat to care for, and has taken her responsibility to heart . . . rocking thee goat and singing to it tenderly.

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35

“ Fabric of Life” Suite

The suite consists of four sculptures that reflect the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.  Each represents a stage in the creation of a wool weaving. . . . from the raising of the sheep to the blanket’s use. Interwoven is the life of a Navajo woman, going from child, mother,  grandmother and finally elder, I will call her Nizhoni.

“Summer Spinning”

Part of the process of turning wool into weavable yarn is drawing out the “carded” wool after shearing the sheep into thinner, finer thread.  It requires pulling the wool thru fingers with a twirling motion as it is wound onto a spindle.  Nizhoni has become a young mother who teaches her own daughters by example as her mother showed her and her mother did her, going back generations.  Before weaving into intricate patterns, the yarn may be dyed with natural pigments.  These patterns are developed from a sense of aesthetic influenced by the dramatic beauty of the surrounding desert environment.  The symbols used also reflect their beliefs & myths.  Often the design may tell a story of either the tribe or family history that also incorporates their cultural values.  So, not only does this mother pass along the skill of creating yarn and weaving fabric, but also she teaches the symbiology of their culture. 

Photo Credit Wendy McEachern

Bronze Edition of 35.

“ Fabric of Life” Suite

 The suite consists of four sculptures that reflect the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.  Each represents a stage in the creation of a wool weaving. . . . from the raising of the sheep to the blanket’s use. Interwoven is the life of a Navajo woman, going from child, mother,  grandmother and finally elder, I will call her Nizhoni.

Winter

Nizhoni, with her husband, has reached elder status, and together they walked thru the golden years of their full lives.  He wraps the beloved blanket over her… the weaving she finished with such pride so many years ago.  In their faces are the lines that tell the story of lives well lived.  Shared was much love and laughter, despite hardships, and they now face their last years with peace and contentment.  The weaving warms them, shelters them, and connects them. . . .an art piece from her heart and hands; an integral part of who they are and the life they’ve shared.

“ We are strands on a weaving, woven by the sun, threaded by the moon, designed by the dreams of the stars”

                                                                        -Anonymous
 

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35.

“ Fabric of Life” Suite

 The suite consists of four sculptures that reflect the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.  Each represents a stage in the creation of a wool weaving. . . . from the raising of the sheep to the blanket’s use. Interwoven is the life of a Navajo woman, going from child, mother,  grandmother and finally elder, I will call her Nizhoni.

"To Market"

A mature woman and weaving artist at this stage of her life, Nizhoni travels to market with the weavings of her family.

She is a mother with her own grown daughter now, and she proudly carries the precious cargo of three generations: her mother's, her daughter's and her own....blankets woven from their own hands with skill, care, and love.

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35.

This sculpture is intended for the 9 ft. monument to be installed at the Oklahoma State Capital Park in Oklahoma City.  The plan is to create a park lined with historical figures from Oklahoma's past.  The first chosen to be sculpted was Te Ata, a Chickasaw/Choctaw woman who was an actress in the first half of the 20th century. She developed a play based on the life of her family and ancestors, intertwined with Oklahoma history.  The show was so popular she performed all over the world, often for kings & queens of many different countries.  She became an honored ambassador of our country's culture, basing her stage play on the oral tradition of storytelling.

Photo Credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35

"Maria Martinez: The Art Spirit"
This is a portrait of the pueblo potter, Maria Martinez (1887-1980), which I was asked to sculpt by the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, NM.  Maria's gloss black on matt black pots are internationally known, and she is given credit for helping Native American creations to be taken seriously as fine art.   Millicent Rogers had collected many of her finest examples, and the first sculpture in this edition now resides in the museum's "Maria Martinez" exhibition hall.  I wanted to capture an expression that gives us a glimpse of her delight in creative process....a reflection of the "art spirit".

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

Dimensions
H 55in x W 24in x D 20in

Weight
160 lb.
Corn pollen is still a sacred part of ritual blessings and prayers in many Native American cultures. This tradition is the inspiration behind "Touch the Earth". In some tribes particularly the Navajo, pollen is used for blessing the most simple act, person or place, as well as in the most elaborate ceremonies. The power of the pollen is considered greatly enhanced by dusting the wings of an eagle or hawk, captured for such purposes. The bird, placed over a buckskin, will shake off the pollen, which is then carefully gathered from the buckskin, and kept in a pollen pouch for future use in blessings and prayers.

In "Touch the Earth", the woman is using the pollen for a prayer. The hawk suggests the strength of the pollen's power, and she is barefoot, touching the earth to further open the channel between herself and the spirit world.

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35.

In the imagined scene behind this sculpture a young Hopi Maiden gazes serenely across her desert homeland before climbing the steep foot-trail leading to her mesa-top dwelling.  She is dressed in traditional attire for daily work:  a handwoven dress designed to leave the shoulder bare (by 1900 many Hopi women were being encouraged by the government and missionaries to wear a calico slip under the dress so that their arms and shoulders were covered).  Her hair is done up in the large whorls that imitate the squashblossom, the symbol for purity, and identify her as a girl of marriageable age.

Personal investigations into the strange and wonderful culture of the Hopi Indian tribe led Star to try to capture the special quality that the Hopi represent.  Their ancestry is directly traceable to the Anasazi, the oldest known inhabitants of the southwest.  They still live in villages that cling to the six hundred foot high escarpments of three rocky mesas rising abruptly out of the desert plains of northern Arizona.  But it is their world view - deeply spiritual, rich in tradition, close to the natural rhythms of life - that speaks to a felt need in contemporary society, and is what Star kept in mind as she shaped an image that expressed her own felt identification.

As with many of Star's sculptures, she puts her figures in an expressive mode that suggests philosophical content beyond the purely pictorial.  A simple, subtle gesture, in this case, the young woman's clasped hands, reminds us in some elemental way of hands clasped in prayer, and when combined with a facial expression that exudes tranquillity and a feeling of satisfaction with self and life, the sum is an almost iconographic representation of peace - which is the meaning of the word "Hopi".  

Bronze Edition of 35

"The Blessing Way emphasizes peace, harmony and good."*

 For several years Star has been contributing to the educational expenses of a young Navajo girl orphaned when her father was killed and her mother abandoned her.  One summer the girl invited Star to be an honored guest at her Kinaaldeh Ceremony, a puberty ritual that formally initiates a girl into womanhood and assures her long life and happiness.  The ceremony was conducted by a Navajo medicine woman whose strength of character and air of quiet power made a deep impression on Star.  Precisely what was so extraordinary about this woman was difficult for Star to describe with words, so she tried to capture her presence in bronze.

 In a coincidence that was fortuitous, after Star had completed the piece she came across a passage in a book written in the 1930's by a female archaeologist that did manage to put into words a description of a Navajo medicine woman that was uncannily similar to the sculpture she just finished.  "Her face was noble and beautiful.  Her black velveteen blouse and wide purple skirt made a pleasing complement to her warm brown skin and black hair.  Her hair was streaked with white at the temples and drawn severely back from a high forehead into a large double-knit tied with white cord at the back of her head.  From her ears long loops of flexible turquoise beads hung, and around her neck were many valuable strings of turquoise, coral and white shell beads.  On her brown and capable hands were silver and turquoise rings and bracelets.  Indeed, she looked like the picture of the Queen of Sikkim, the Tibetan princess....  So I beheld this beautiful woman of the red Navajo earth.  I could only liken her to an oriental queen.  But I thought of Thomas Wolfe's memorable phrase, 'the imperturbable visage of eternity'."

The Kinaaldeh Ceremony is a part of the Blessing Way, which Navajos say is the backbone of all ceremonialism, controlling all other rites and chants.  Used to attract good, avert misfortune and invoke positive blessings, Blessing Way rites fulfill a multitude of needs, protecting livestock, aiding childbirth, blessing a new hogan, consecrating a marriage, protecting soldiers, as well as celebrating a girl's adolescence.

In Full Bloom depicts a young Navajo woman celebrating a moment.  Dressed in her traditional skirt, shawl and moccasins, and adorned in jewelry crafted by artisans in her tribe, she is feeling beautiful.  She lifts and flutters her skirt in a twirl as she celebrates her femininity.  She is excited but as indicative in her Navajo culture, she is also shy and hesitant in her self-expression.  Like the rose in her hair, she is In Full Bloom.  She is beginning her journey into Womanhood. 

Despite many tensions over the years there is a great deal of Spanish influence in Navajo culture.  The rose in her hair signifies a nod of appreciation to those Spanish influences, some of which include the introduction of sheep which led to the creation of Navajo weaving and the art of silver-smithing.

Bronze Edition of 35

After meeting some New Zealand Maori who had come to this country to play Polocrosse - a fast and furious horse sport I also enjoy - I decided to visit New Zealand.  While there, I took advantage of the opportunity to talk with contemporary Maori people, to experience their culture and immerse myself in their history.  Perhaps the most striking cultural practice of the Maori that I observed is their tradition of facial tattooing.  Cutting intricate patterns into the flesh with a sharp blade of bone - not pricking, as is the custom elsewhere - and rubbing a pigment of soot and water into the wounds to leave blue-green scars, is an ancient art of theirs - an honor traditionally reserved for men and women of rank and dignity, experience and accomplishment.

Some of these elaborate markings represent one's family heritage, but can only be worn if the actions and deeds of the wearer have lived up to the high standard set by ancestors.  Other patterns tell of personal accolades and expertise, either in healing powers or battle courage.  What impressed me most, however, was the way in which the patterns, over time, seemed to become external reflections of the internal person...self-expressions rather than mere decorations...that were as natural to the face as age lines.

In this sculpture I wanted to capture the depth of character that comes from an extraordinary life dignified by challenges met and surmounted.

Bronze Edition of 35

The creation of fetishes, effigies, and talismans goes back to the earliest evidence of mankind.  The compulsion to make aesthetic objects displays the creative spark that distinguished Homo sapiens form Neanderthals; it is a unique providence of the human mind.  First expressed in stone carvings and cave wall paintings from the Paleolithic Period, it has continued throughout the centuries and across all cultures.  When mankind is in tune with the natural environment, he is acutely aware of the strengths inherent in other species in order to learn useful survival skills . . . such as the bear for finding healing herbs, the coyote for clever prowess, the deer for evasive tactics.  By creating their likeness, the recreation becomes the physical embodiment for the particular characteristic the animal symbolizes for the maker. And, as every creature has it’s unique qualities, so have other elements such as stone, feather and bone, which when added to the fetish increases it’s significance.  The object then has become the recipient vessel of the energy given it, spiritual liaison for the bearer, containing the energy.  This magic spark can then be called upon when needed, whether it be courage, fortitude, clarity in vision or healing powers.  As an extension of this most primal understanding that goes back to the very roots of our being, I feel that all objects of art contain an energy endowed by it’s maker.  It is this very mystery I wished to explore in this body of work, and encourage viewers to contemplate.  It is partly influenced by those contemporary artists who have reminded me of these mysterious corners of my mind, but mostly by the ancients whose brilliance fascinates and inspires me above all, and on whose shoulders we all stand.

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35.

The creation of fetishes, effigies, and talismans goes back to the earliest evidence of mankind.  The compulsion to make aesthetic objects displays the creative spark that distinguished Homo sapiens form Neanderthals; it is a unique providence of the human mind.  First expressed in stone carvings and cave wall paintings from the Paleolithic Period, it has continued throughout the centuries and across all cultures.  When mankind is in tune with the natural environment, he is acutely aware of the strengths inherent in other species in order to learn useful survival skills . . . such as the bear for finding healing herbs, the coyote for clever prowess, the deer for evasive tactics.  By creating their likeness, the recreation becomes the physical embodiment for the particular characteristic the animal symbolizes for the maker. And, as every creature has it’s unique qualities, so have other elements such as stone, feather and bone, which when added to the fetish increases it’s significance.  The object then has become the recipient vessel of the energy given it, spiritual liaison for the bearer, containing the energy.  This magic spark can then be called upon when needed, whether it be courage, fortitude, clarity in vision or healing powers.  As an extension of this most primal understanding that goes back to the very roots of our being, I feel that all objects of art contain an energy endowed by it’s maker.  It is this very mystery I wished to explore in this body of work, and encourage viewers to contemplate.  It is partly influenced by those contemporary artists who have reminded me of these mysterious corners of my mind, but mostly by the ancients whose brilliance fascinates and inspires me above all, and on whose shoulders we all stand.

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35

The creation of fetishes, effigies, and talismans goes back to the earliest evidence of mankind.  The compulsion to make aesthetic objects displays the creative spark that distinguished Homo sapiens form Neanderthals; it is a unique providence of the human mind.  First expressed in stone carvings and cave wall paintings from the Paleolithic Period, it has continued throughout the centuries and across all cultures.  When mankind is in tune with the natural environment, he is acutely aware of the strengths inherent in other species in order to learn useful survival skills . . . such as the bear for finding healing herbs, the coyote for clever prowess, the deer for evasive tactics.  By creating their likeness, the recreation becomes the physical embodiment for the particular characteristic the animal symbolizes for the maker. And, as every creature has it’s unique qualities, so have other elements such as stone, feather and bone, which when added to the fetish increases it’s significance.  The object then has become the recipient vessel of the energy given it, spiritual liaison for the bearer, containing the energy.  This magic spark can then be called upon when needed, whether it be courage, fortitude, clarity in vision or healing powers.  As an extension of this most primal understanding that goes back to the very roots of our being, I feel that all objects of art contain an energy endowed by it’s maker.  It is this very mystery I wished to explore in this body of work, and encourage viewers to contemplate.  It is partly influenced by those contemporary artists who have reminded me of these mysterious corners of my mind, but mostly by the ancients whose brilliance fascinates and inspires me above all, and on whose shoulders we all stand.

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

Bronze Edition of 35

The creation of fetishes, effigies, and talismans goes back to the earliest evidence of mankind.  The compulsion to make aesthetic objects displays the creative spark that distinguished Homo sapiens form Neanderthals; it is a unique providence of the human mind.  First expressed in stone carvings and cave wall paintings from the Paleolithic Period, it has continued throughout the centuries and across all cultures.  When mankind is in tune with the natural environment, he is acutely aware of the strengths inherent in other species in order to learn useful survival skills . . . such as the bear for finding healing herbs, the coyote for clever prowess, the deer for evasive tactics.  By creating their likeness, the recreation becomes the physical embodiment for the particular characteristic the animal symbolizes for the maker. And, as every creature has it’s unique qualities, so have other elements such as stone, feather and bone, which when added to the fetish increases it’s significance.  The object then has become the recipient vessel of the energy given it, spiritual liaison for the bearer, containing the energy. This magic spark can then be called upon when needed, whether it be courage, fortitude, clarity in vision or healing powers.  As an extension of this most primal understanding that goes back to the very roots of our being, I feel that all objects of art contain an energy endowed by it’s maker.  It is this very mystery I wished to explore in this body of work, and encourage viewers to contemplate.  It is partly influenced by those contemporary artists who have reminded me of these mysterious corners of my mind, but mostly by the ancients whose brilliance fascinates and inspires me above all, and on whose shoulders we all stand.

Photo credit Wendy McEahern

SOLD OUT

Edition of 10

Life Size 75 x 20 x 28

"The Blessing Way emphasizes peace, harmony and good."*

For several years Star has been contributing to the educational expenses of a young Navajo girl orphaned when her father was killed and her mother abandoned her.  One summer the girl invited Star to be an honored guest at her Kinaaldeh Ceremony, a puberty ritual that formally initiates a girl into womanhood and assures her long life and happiness. The ceremony was conducted by a Navajo medicine woman whose strength of character and air of quiet power made a deep impression on Star.  Precisely what was so extraordinary about this woman was difficult for Star to describe with words, so she tried to capture her presence in bronze.

In a coincidence that was fortuitous, after Star had completed the piece she came across a passage in a book written in the 1930's by a female archaeologist that did manage to put into words a description of a Navajo medicine woman that was uncannily similar to the sculpture she just finished.  "Her face was noble and beautiful.  Her black velveteen blouse and wide purple skirt made a pleasing complement to her warm brown skin and black hair.  Her hair was streaked with white at the temples and drawn severely back from a high forehead into a large double-knit tied with white cord at the back of her head.  From her ears long loops of flexible turquoise beads hung, and around her neck were many valuable strings of turquoise, coral and white shell beads.  On her brown and capable hands were silver and turquoise rings and bracelets.  Indeed, she looked like the picture of the Queen of Sikkim, the Tibetan princess....  So I beheld this beautiful woman of the red Navajo earth.  I could only liken her to an oriental queen.  But I thought of Thomas Wolfe's memorable phrase, 'the imperturbable visage of eternity'."

The Kinaaldeh Ceremony is a part of the Blessing Way, which Navajos say is the backbone of all ceremonialism, controlling all other rites and chants.  Used to attract good, avert misfortune and invoke positive blessings, Blessing Way rites fulfill a multitude of needs, protecting livestock, aiding childbirth, blessing a new hogan, consecrating a marriage, protecting soldiers, as well as celebrating a girl's adolescence.