“Water Song”

Monumental Fountain

Bronze Edition of 15

53 x 33 x 53 inches

$32,000

"Water Song" features a young Anasazi woman sitting on a rock washing her hair. In this piece, Star wanted to capture those quiet, reflective moments that women frequently enjoy while performing the daily rituals of self-maintenance. "These routines, such as brushing your hair or bathing, give us private time when we can escape into thoughts that take us faraway from daily cares," she says. "Whether fantasizing about a dream lover or composing the lyrics to a personal song, these private moments, I believe have always been precious to women." The life-size "Water Song" is mounted on a faux stone model of an actual boulder.

Although modifications can be made to accommodate specific sites, the way in which the piece is currently designed allows the sculpture and the stone to sit in a pool of water. A submerged pump pushes a stream of water through plumbing already installed within the sculpture, which is emitted through an opening in her hair where her hands appear to be wringing water into a bowl. As the bowl fills with water (as if she is so lost in her thoughts she doesn't realize what is happening in front of her) the water spills over, dropping into a natural cup in the rock, and in turn overflowing into the pool where it is re-circulated by the pump..

The sound of trickling water scores her meditations like a musical background - thus the title "Water Song".

“Touch the Earth”

Monument

Bronze Edition of 25

 54 x 10 x 20 inches

$21000

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..

“Virgin Spring”

Monumental Fountain

Bronze Edition of 15

64 x 20 inches

$44,000

This woman, wrapped in a blanket either because of a slight chill after undressing for a bath, or out of modesty despite the implied private setting, tests the water delicately with her toe in anticipation of a refreshing bath. Does the title refer to the source of water for this bath?

A private sanctuary she alone knows of and is therefore untouched? The reference could point to the woman herself in the springtime of her life; new to womanhood, virgin in her coming of age.

It connotes a private moment when the woman is lost in sensations. Absentmindedly she fingers her necklace, distracted by how things feel, smell, and sound. The cool air on her bare skin, the prickly rough woven wool, the woodsy scents of dew on leaves and grass and fallen trees, the gurgling spring, chatter of birds, rustle of leaves stirred by a faint breeze.

When we feel new we become aware of even minute sensations. Perhaps she has risen from intimacy with her lover (she wears a chief's blanket) and is feeling reborn in her discovery of herself as a woman. She contemplates descending in to the clear cleansing pool, a ritual we associate with rebirth, and reflects the pure contentment of the moment on her placid face.

$63,000

$84,000

Distant Thunder

$84,000

" In the desert, as in the mountains, the weather can be violently unpredictable. Storms can explode out of a serene blue sky in a matter of moments. For this reason, Native People, who spent most of their time out-of-doors, were acutely attuned to the warning signs. Drawing on these facts of nature, Star York has imagined a dramatic vignette of turn-of-the-century Apache life. A young mother out gathering berries with her child has heard the drums of distant thunder. Pursued by a lashing wind and bolts of lightning, she hurries toward shelter. As with all of Star's work, the historical detail is finely researched. The "burden basket" the woman carries over her shoulder is specific to western tribes and is given to young girls at their puberty ceremonies. Note the jewelry the woman is wearing: in addition to the cross, silver-dollar medallion, and glass trade bead necklace, around her neck dangles a wood amulet carved by a medicine man out of lightning-struck wood that is believed to be an entrail of the Wind God. But the detail does not exist for detail's sake - it is integrated into the sculpture in ways that subtly support the original concept. The way the woman is dressed is an example. Rather than putting her in traditional clothes, Star has her wearing the kind of long and loose cotton dress Western Apache women adopted after contact with Europeans. This allows Star to bring more movement to the piece, accenting the woman's flight and the swirling wind, which in turn adds drama and urgency to the action. Finally, look closely at the baby. Intuitively he appears to have recognized his mother's alarm. He seems to know danger is chasing them. And we realize this not only by the wild-eyed expression registered on his face, but by the suggestion that he too has acted in rescuing his doll. In this exciting new work, Star continues her interest in sculpting Indian women and placing them in contexts that allow them to demonstrate strength and character. Though concern is etched in this young Apache mother's brow, she acts swiftly and competently to stay ahead of trouble." - Star Liana York