HAF member and artist, Cher Shaffer, has reworked a pair of boots. What began as a pair of plain leather moccasins is transformed into a landscape of mythical symbols — figures and shapes, bears, trees, lightning bolts, and a medicine wheel for healing. The large wolf icon represents Cher’s Native American ancestry. In addition to working on traditional canvas, Cher uses found objects and ceramics; she also turns vintage or everyday garments into mixed medium works of art, incorporating her eclectic style. The boots are one of Cher’s most recent projects.
Cher: I call the boots Walk Softly on The Earth. They are 18 inches high. I used art pens and acrylic paint with a wash of Mississippi Delta dirt, and coffee as an overall stain. I purchased them for myself, to wear when I wear more traditional clothes. Somehow, I started thinking about all my ancestors that went on the Trail of Tears– the Cherokee called it, “the trail where we cried,”– and an idea of making them a sort of memorial to my Cherokee family. I did not use strictly traditional images and symbols, but envisioned what I, as a modern day descendant of native people, could serve as visual links to the past. We stand as the link between our ancestors and the future generations. We must learn to Walk Softly on the Earth so our journey does not harm and break the connection from past to future…
HAF: Nice narrative Cher. But the recent trend of the dominant culture by no means honors this idea; instead of walking softly, it has stomped violently on the earth to the possible point of no repair. How do we move forward in these boots? Is there a tangible hope for change? Can the earth be repaired?
Cher: Ron, I have faith that we can and will survive the devastation of the greed and desolation that the dominant society seems to intentionally scar the Earth with. Our hope is in the religion before religion, Nature. It teaches us, and we in turn the next generation, to love, honor and cherish the natural. I have spent my life listening to and watching all thing natural. Just when I think that the whole world has gone mad, there is something that pulls me back from feeling hopeless and makes me feel the holiness and blessedness of Nature. I try in some small measure to pass this on when I can. We all can, in some way, become the healing we desire. I will spend the rest of my days appreciating and protecting that which I feel has no voice…