 Uma, A Siberian Shaman: Drumming Back the Light. |
Uma's costume was inspired by a performance by Kamyl, a Siberian Folk Ensemble from the Kamchatka peninsula. Members were from five different tribes of reindeer people, possibly this is Chuckchi. The many beaded circular medallions they wore were explained as more than just symbols of the sun. In a land where the sun appears only minimally, these bright circles widen to represent the unity and warmth of the circle of family and friends so essential to life in their climate. The circle is also symbolic of Woman, she who continues life. The shaman walks the line between this world and the spirit world, between dark and light, life and death. The black and white branching patterns of the spinal cord and ribs represent this precarious balance, especially on her boots. The shaman's drum is the trance-inducing tool that some tribes liken to a circular lake, through which their shamans enter the spirit world. Uma spent the very first week of her life in this body centered in a woman's circle, accompaning a number present on their journeys to the beat of the shaman's drum. She offers wise counsel and transformative powers. Uma is made of Super Sculpey, with human hair and a poseable wired soft body. She wears printed cotton pants and a shirt underneath her robe fashioned of deerskin and rabbit scrap leathers, with beaded medallions and machine embroidery, with boots to match, and a necklace of coral and glass beads. Her drum is built of cardboard tubing, wood and leather. Uma won a Special Ribbon in Direct Sculpt category at the Boston Dollmaker's Marketplace, August 1998 .  Click Here for a Close-up Portrait |
