(Text supplied Heather Gordy)
Shields, power symbols and medicine wheels were commonly created and used amongst most Native American tribes. These shields (later called mandalas) were thought to bring its owner good luck, prosperity, health and happiness. The most common mandala known is the Dream Catcher. Legend has it that if you hang this above your head while you sleep, the bad dreams would be caught in the web while the good dreams are allowed to flow through the feathers back to you. Feathers were extremely important to most Native American tribes and are used often in their mandalas. It represented ascension and spiritual strength. Chiefs would wear them in full head dress as it symbolized there communication with the Great Spirit and expressed their wisdom. Native American mandalas were created using buffalo hides, eagle feathers, furs, bones, sinew, and if painted, were done so with natural pigments.
I thought Heather would be absolutely perfect for this mandala project. I also recently found out that Heather's maternal grandmother was full blooded Cherokee. There are interesting things to come of this, I'm sure of it!
"mandala" from the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
The circle. It's so simple, and yet so complex. It means everything, and yet seemingly nothing at the same time. This blog will celebrate all things 'circular', and what the shape ultimately means to society, science, religion, and more. Mandalas are particularly on my mind right now.
I recently proposed a collaborative project with several of my artist friends, all of whom live across the country from me. Each of these collaborations will no doubt develop their own separate set of rules in the coming months. The one rule that I requested? Let the image be a circle, a mandala. The pieces we create will inherently travel. It is vagabond art. Each artist in a pairing will start one piece, send them through the mail three times, so that they 'cross' each other. Then they finish the piece that the other artist originally started. We will trade, and we will expand, and we compound a relatively simple idea.
So far I have started my collaboration with an artist known for his intricate and expansive collages, Wes Way of Harrisonburg, Virginia. He puts a lot of time and effort into all of his pieces. Recently he has been seen collaging skateboard decks and other three dimensional objects, as well. Here is a sampling of his work...
The vague rules:
-Each artist works with me to create two mandala pieces.
-Sizes may vary by pairing. (16x20, 18x24, 8x10, etc.) However, the two mandalas produced must ultimately be the same size, and acceptable to each member within a pairing.
-Any medium can be used, as long as it is able to be mailed easily (i.e. rolled or folded).
-Each artist in a pairing begins one mandala, with the intention of seeing/working on any particular piece, a total of twice. Once the marks have been made, both artists mail the pieces at the same time. This process will occur three times (three mailings total). In the end, each artist will have finished the mandala piece that the other has originally started.
This is a series that travels, not unlike postcards and mail art, but it will be more. This art will circle the earth. I have offered several artists a chance to work with me, on making mandalas. A mandala is both a mystical, and a natural shape, and an archaic, as well as a contemporary symbol. This project is also largely about separate collaborations and the mingling of artistic styles. I have asked for no abandonment of personal aesthetic, just a chance to work with something, and someone new. I have wanted to cross more invisible boundaries with my art for some time. This traveling, collaborative mandala series will be the first hurdle in a literal and metaphoric journey.
(may be altered/continued)
