love letters to ursa major
Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy….joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift. — Robin Wall Kimmerer
“Love Letters…” is a reflection on our relationship with the living earth and its inhabitants as we evolve as a species. Like any relationship, for it to thrive necessitates a delicate balance.
Greek mythology tells that Callisto was turned into a bear by Hera when she fathered a son, Arcus, with Zeus, Hera’s husband. Arcus later came upon a magnificent bear while hunting and drew his bow on the creature as it stood silently beholding him. Zeus flung both mother and son into the sky before the arrow met its target. In Native American mythology, three hunters follow a bear in the same constellation, circling one another in the night sky and tinging leaves with the bear’s crimson blood when these stars dip below the horizon in autumn.
A nod to Louise Bourgeois’s notable larger-than-life spider Maman and a wink to Denver International Airport’s “Blucipher”, “Mother” represents a mother (earth) as both a nurturing provider and a fearsome entity, worthy of respect and care. “Mother”, woven together from Louisiana blue tarps and recycled fabric scraps reminiscent of Cajun Courir costume fringe, is commanding presence who lovingly, but fiercely, protects her own.
The “Mutualisms” panels, encaustic-coated cyanotypes, were borne of the sun’s energy; photosensitive areas of paper reacting to the light by turning white, then blue with exposure to water. These depict unlikely trans-species cooperations, such as the badger and the coyote. One proficient in burrowing, the other, fleet-footed in the chase, prairie dogs and groundhogs have no recourse in the hunt and at least one predator will end a day’s chase with a full belly.
Badger Coyote Marionette 2b
Badgers
Blue Rabbit 2
Mueller and Oddlokken
Rabbits Marionettes
Vultures Marionettes 2
Vulture Marionette 3
Ursa Sky Bear Description
Ursa Major with Kelly Mueller
Ursa Minor
Ursa Major
Sky Bear 1
