Yarn painting – Blue gourd bowl in middle

Yarn painting – Blue gourd bowl in middle

Leopoldo Valdez de la Cruz

Huichol

24″ x 24″

The Huichol indigenous group remains one of the most intact primitive cultures in the Western Hemisphere. Their art, which began centuries ago, was originally tributes to the gods and now has become spectacular art, all derived from peyote visions, dreams, and ancient spiritual and mythological traditions. The artist presses one strand of yarn at a time onto a board covered with a mixture of beeswax and resin.

This yarn painting is by Leopoldo Valdez de la Cruz.

This yarn painting contains all of the sacred paraphernalia the shaman uses in the ritual for an abundant harvest. The blue gourd bowl in the center contains shaman’s wands with leaves and large feathers, a deer staff, a sacred arrow, and corn. To the left is a peyote button with a deer below and “god’s eye” above. To the right are another peyote button and more sacred wands and small gourd rattles. The bottom center is the drum. The wavy lines represent powerful energy coming from these objects. There is barely room at the right for the rain these rituals hope to induce.