Static

Static (20 1/2" x 14 1/2" - approx 32 wefts/inch)

The word static has two meanings. Static can mean either stagnant (stuck in time) or interference (usually electrical).

The indigo, black, and white stripe design, also known as the Chief Blanket design, was the first design Navajo weavers wove. I chose to frame this pattern within the television because (1) it looks very much like bad picture reception and (2) it is an older design which allows it to signify the stagnation of the portrayal of Natives on screen, or in popular media at large.

Above the television, we see other patterns that have come after that first design. Diagonals, pixelated crosses, and the electronic representation of a heartbeat. All of these together are how I choose to represent the continuation of our existence and dynamism of our cultures.

The Ever-Symbolic Tree

The Ever-Symbolic Tree (20 1/2" x 24 1/2" - approx 32 wefts/inch)

This design was inspired by the passing of my father-in-law, which is why it's taken me so long to write about it.

The bottom of the rug, the tree trunk and black space around it is everything we consider tangible. It's represented here as a necessary void--comfortable, because of its perceived limitedness.

The top of the rug represents all the clarity we strive for, the peace we sometimes yearn for. I used to think it was unreachable. A trove of knowledge tucked light years away into one of those mysterious areas of space where gravity and light can't escape, but radiation can.

Not anymore, it's all here. In the blanket of tight space between black, grey, red, yellow, white, green, and turquoise wefts of wool.

This tree is the clearest representation I can muster of what allows me to feel that I'm okay, that my family's okay. That everyone and everything that has passed before me or is yet to come, they're okay.