8/16/2023 0 Comments Daywalkers navajo![]() In the wake of this holy gift, weavers intentionally introduce small, often invisible errors into their rugs as marks of human imperfection.Īragon descends from a legacy of weavers on his mother’s side. Spider Woman showed the Diné to weave not only fiber but also their lives, by balancing mind, body, and soul. Spider Woman often gets top billing, but Spider Man did his part by creating a loom from sky, earth, sun, and lightning. According to tradition, two spiritual beings, Spider Woman and Spider Man, taught the Diné to weave. The practice of weaving plays a role in the tribe’s creation story and religious observances today. The necklace echoes the deep spiritual connections weaving has for the Diné. Venancio Aragon gathers traditional materials for his natural dyes.ĪS VENANCIO ARAGON WEAVES, HE WEARS A SILVER SPIDERWEB pendant inset with turquoise. In the process, these weavers are discovering that deepening their connections to their heritage and themselves can be the most rebellious path of all. Riege breaks free from the bounds of the loom altogether, transforming fiber into sculpture and even performance art. Aragon and Aspaas stretch traditional palettes to their limits, and in some cases toss them aside entirely for synthetic hues while adapting authentic styles in ways that barely resemble stereotypical Diné weavings. Like Aragon, fiber artists Kevin Aspaas, of Shiprock, and Eric-Paul Riege, of Gallup, explore their modern indigeneity through the medium.Ĭolor, design, and material star in their groundbreaking works. Raised in the customs of their forebears, they are breaking free from weaving’s boundaries and stereotypes-if their creations are even identifiable as weavings at all. When I produce pieces like this, it deconstructs people’s romanticism of us.”Īragon is part of a new generation of Diné (Navajo) weavers. “Indigenous culture in general and Navajo textile culture specifically are active and evolving. ![]() “I think my pieces represent the monumental vitality of our cultures today,” Aragon says. But in his hands and heddle, it captures a modern view of Diné culture through one of its signature art forms. His ancestors wouldn’t recognize the design. The colors hopscotch from the deepest purple and brightest green to the fairest blue. On Aragon’s loom, however, a color field scatters across the tapestry like thrown mosaic tiles. In other Diné weaving studios, you might find the muted hues of a regional Two Grey Hills pattern or the red-and-black diamond of an eye-dazzler design taking shape. The warps and wefts of a work in progress hang between the bars and selvage cords. Diné weaver Kevin Aspaas lives near the Ship Rock formation, a sacred peak to his people.ĪN INHERITED UPRIGHT LOOM STANDS against the wall of weaver Venancio Aragon’s Farmington studio.
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