While our trip to New Mexico did not include visiting the pueblos, we did make it to the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe ...
The experience was deeply moving ... objects wrought of clay and cloth ... wood, bone, metal and stone transformed ... everything functional, yet rich with symbolism ... it felt sacred ... something I will simply never forget.
Near the end of the exhibit, Don saw a quote and beckoned me back. Photography wasn't allowed, so I wrote down part of it. Later I emailed librarian Allison Colborne at the museum asking for her help ... she referred me to Tony Chavarria, who provided the quote in full:
“Art” is not found in our language. But what do we call a piece of work created by the hands of my family? What will we call that piece which embodies the life of its creator? What will it be if it has a life and soul, while its maker sings and prays for it? In my home we call it pottery painted with designs to tell us a story. In my mother’s house, we call it a wedding basket to hold blue corn meal for the groom’s family. In my grandma’s place, we call it a Kachina doll, a carved image of a life force that holds the Hopi world in place. We make pieces of life to see, touch and feel. Shall we call it “Art”? I hope not. It may lose its soul. Its life. Its people.
Michael Lacapa, Apache, Hopi-Tewa
Upon our return to Texas, Don gathered stone, wood (from a $5 By the Bridge screen door) and paint, creating his own impression of New Mexico to "see, touch and feel" ...
something to remind us of our sojourn until we find our way back ...
