Duhesa Gallery, Colorado State University at Fort Collins.
Life circumstances have me rather behind in my updates here…but this ‘coming soon in June’ image is more of a teaser than an announcement created by Duhesa Gallery, University of Colorado at Fort Collins.
…the brunt of the action will happen in November when the reception and possible talks and workshops take place.
Check these sites for updates!
https://www.facebook.com/LSCArtsatCSU
Some may ask why do I have so many deer images in this Duhesa Gallery show? Initially I was not entirely sure, but having so many deer pieces prompted me to research it in grad school and combine it with what I learned from hanging around my North Carolina relatives…so here’s what I came up with; The deer, being a universally sacred being to Indian people, is considered a spirit ally of the shaman. The deerskin trade is of paramount importance in Native American history, as is the wearing of the deerskin dress. For the Tuscarora of North Carolina, the Deer clan is at the top of the clan totem system.
The deer signifies newness, new knowledge and the stage of a newborn baby. The deer figures represent the idea of transport on the physical plane within the realm of the living body, but with the ability to bounce between the parallel worlds of earth and sky. In other images from this series, the deer is shown as a magical mystical creature, surfacing from swampy viney southern woodlands to take its full form out of the obscurity of darkness.
Venus, the morning star is also known as the deer star. In my first “Deer Messenger” piece, the morning star is substituted for eyes to show the parallel cosmic world. The double helix on the forehead represents the duality of opposites, the good mind vs. the bad mind, twin forces who continuously fight each other.
Mask with Antlers, wood,
Caddoan culture, Craig Mound,
Eastern Oklahoma
A.D. 1200-1350
