If you're familiar with the Kos Katalogue, you've no doubt seen the many diaries featuring Wings' Silverwork. Wings has a gift for working with silver, evident in all his work:
An amethyst barrette he recently made for me:
along with a moonstone cuff:
all to compliment the moonstone pendant I commissioned from him:
In each of these cases, I might add, I named the stone and the type of jewelry, and let Wings' spirit and affinity with the silver take him where it would. The results were literally breathtaking. Wings does photography as well, capturing life around the pueblo.
Now, he's been honored with a one-man art exhibit: Taos Pueblo: Ancestral Places, Sacred Spaces by the Jean Cocteau Cinemea in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Exhibit will run April 15th through May 11th. From Aji:
[the exhibit] explores the identity of Taos Pueblo from an insider's perspective through Wings's chosen media: photography and sterling silver. The show features ten photographs of Taos Pueblo's classic architecture and iconography, presented in a wholly different way. Instead of concentrating on the famed multi-level houses ubiquitous in photos everywhere, Wings brings the existential details into focus:
There is so much more to our ancestral lands, our sacred spaces, that people never see. Some of that is purposeful: Our traditions require privacy and secrecy, and there is much that is not available to outsiders. But even in the public areas of the Pueblo, what visitors see and what I see are two very different things.
With this exhibition, I would like to take you on a journey I want to show you what I see, feel what I feel — the sights and sounds and smells and sensations of this place, this land, that has embedded in my blood and bone and that of my people for more than a millennium . . . .
Come with me. Let me show you this earth, this sky, this light that is wholly a part of me.
Interpretive text will accompany the photos to provide context for viewers.
Complementing the photography, the show will also feature several of Wings's sterling silver Indian jewelry showpieces, each with its own accompanying narrative.
So, why do they need our help, and what can we do? Follow me below the decorative swirl for more...
The exhibit is a great honor for Wings, but it requires some upfront financial investment:
* Matting and Framing the Photographs ($1,200)
* Program Guide with Interpretive Information for each piece ($500 - $1,000)
* An overhaul of their website to make it friendly for mobile devices ($500)
That's not including the investments they've already made in silver, material, time, & labor. Aji has set a GoFundMe goal of $2,500, but it would be wonderful if we could exceed that - it would allow the possibility of an artist's reception before the show closes in mid-May, and give them some breathing room as well.
If you can help, please go to their GoFundMe page and contribute:
GoFundMe uses WePay instead of PayPal. If you prefer a PayPal method, go to Aji's Blog and in the upper right is a PayPal "Donate" button.
If you aren't in a spot to contribute financially, you can share the GoFundMe page on social media or via email. The more eyes that see it, the better. So please, if you can, help Aji & Wings make this a fantastic exhibit. Thanks for reading.