Marie Watt’s “Sky Dances Light” and the power of collective stories
The sound of tens of thousands of tinkling bells fills Kavi Gupta. Marie Watt’s jingle clouds hang from the ceiling, creating an immersive experience. “I want people to walk through something, so their body will feel it and hear it,” says the artist, who pays special attention to the relationship that the dynamic sculptures, made out of rolled tin (historically fashioned from the circular lids of tobacco containers), establish between earth and sky. The viewer is hooked somewhere between history and contemporaneity.
Watt’s multicultural heritage—she’s a citizen of the Seneca Nation of Indians, and has German-Scot ancestry—translates into a multidisciplinary practice that spans sculptural installation, textile, and works on paper, all drawing from history, ancestry, Iroquois protofeminism, and Indigenous principles. Collective and autobiographical elements become one as she explores the past, present, and future. The glue that holds it all together? Storytelling. Through multigenerational and cross-disciplinary conversations comes connection and an unmatched sense of belonging.
Jingle cones became an iconic element of Indigenous dance traditions during the Spanish Flu pandemic of the early 20th century, with many stories positioning its origins among the Ojibwe of the Minnesota-Ontario boundary area. Legend has it that the dance itself began when the granddaughter of an Ojibwe nation member fell sick. As they slept, they had a recurring dream: four women dancing in jingle dresses. Following the spirits’ instructions, the dance was performed, trusting this would make the granddaughter well. And so it was. Performed to this day, the Jingle Dress Dance is a symbol of healing and pride.
Watt’s cloudlike forms evoke another story of healing, unity, and shared experience that the artist heard as a child: In “Lifting the Sky,” the sky was pressing down on people, overwhelming the world with darkness. Despite language barriers, they united with a single word, “yəhaw̓,” meaning to keep going. Using sticks and their collective effort, they managed to raise the sky.
It would be remiss not to mention the timely relevance of both stories—as well as the exhibition—to our recent pandemic experience and collective trauma that extends beyond culture, race, gender, and the self. Importantly, "Sky Dances Light" brings the Indigenous voice and experience front and center. And with that comes understanding, empathy, and, ultimately, empowerment. Perhaps this explains why to truly experience Watt’s jingle clouds means to touch, to smell, to dance around them—to feel them. It is then that you realize that even when the gallery is empty, the bells’ enchanting celestial sound is still there.
