Earthy art stands test of time

Student Shawn Nelson doesn’t paint with acrylics, oil or water paint, but with sand.

Nelson is a sand painter: someone who paints not on sand, but with sand. Nelson said he learned about the art in 1965 when he moved from east Los Angeles to live with his grandparents on the Arizona Navajo Reservation. An installation of Nelson’s work is on display at the UNM Faculty/Staff Club. He will do a sand painting demonstration at the club on Friday.

Sand painting is traditionally used in healing ceremonies conducted by medicine men, he said. The sand acts as a portal between the earth and the spirit world. The medicine men can ask the spirits to help heal the person, he said. Once the ceremony is over, the sand is collected and cast off to erase sickness, he said.

“They would visualize the person’s sickness. The patient sits on the sand painting and they’re explaining to them the purpose of their sickness, the understanding of why, and they also give them herbal medicine to bring them back to health,” he said. “So basically, just rebalance their life again; that was the purpose of it.”

Symbols called yeis (yay-eez) are depicted for the ceremony, but Nelson said he includes realistic figures in his work. His work is also different in that he often glues the sand in place so the pieces can be displayed. He said his paintings are to encourage people to respect the earth and everything on it, a central part of the Diné culture. By making the depictions realistic, Nelson said he is making that message accessible to a universal audience.

“Today, people just take it for granted. They’re destroying more trees, and the chemicals that are being added, and the more we tend to live that lifestyle, the more we’re going to destroy our world,” he said. “I’ll go to the mountains and smell the trees, and I’ll touch the tree and say, ‘thank you.’ In a way, if someone does that, people look at him like a Loony Tune or something, but in my perspective, I look at it as respect for these plants that are part of the earth. I see things differently.”

D’V Flores, Nelson’s manager, said Native Americans are often reluctant to openly discuss these beliefs because they feel people outside their groups don’t understand it. Nelson grew up Catholic, Flores said, which gave him a different perspective on these beliefs.

“We all need images, no matter what religion it is, so we can feel connected,” she said. “But sometimes people see it as a cult or something on the dark side, but it’s all about nature and helping the world; it’s nothing hidden.”

Nelson said his grandfather lived to be 105 years old and attributes his longevity to his lifestyle. Like a person’s body, the earth can be damaged and unhealthy, but by caring for it the way we should ourselves, Nelson said we can ensure a bright future.

“I can’t say what’s going to happen to this world; all I can say is my grandparents told me these stories, and the more I listened to them, the more it’s kind of like, ‘It really is going in that direction,’” he said.