 Chara, The Seer of Shadows  Click Here for a Close-up Portrait
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My third Siberian woman shaman stands gesturing with eyes closed, as she sees the spirit world and shades of those gone before. Communication with this other level of reality enables her to offer needed guidance and insight to her tribe. The black trim on her front tied "doublet" represents both the skeletal ribcage and the world tree. A decorative free-hanging back panel is hung with five glass-beaded long tassels of alternating black and white horsehair. Chara's costume was inspired by a ceremonial dress of reindeer hide belonging to a Tungus shaman and collected in 1876. (Same owner as Alma's more exact copy). The use of black and white again parallels the balancing of the dark and the light, of life and death, or of everyday reality and the life of the spirit that is so essential to the shaman. Chara is sculpted in Premo polymer clay with human hair and a soft poseable wired body. Her clothing is sewn of recycled leathers and fur, with black cotton trim and decorative machine stitching, and matching boots. She wears cotton tundra print pants and a brown shirt under her long coat. |
