The Gib Singleton Newsletter

The Gib Singleton Newsletter
“I’m not decorating somebody’s living room. I’m not decorating somebody’s garden. I’m decorating somebody’s heart.”
5th Annual Breakfast with Gib
Saturday, August 20, 9 – 11 am at Galerie Zuger
120 W San Francisco St, Santa Fe RSVP required 505 984-5099 [email protected]
Going Native
In celebration of Indian Market and our
annual “Breakfast with Gib” at Galerie
Zuger in Santa Fe, we’ve dedicated this
issue of the newsletter to Gib’s Native
American works. While he hasn’t
produced a lot of these works compared
to his “cowboy” and Biblical pieces,
many collectors tell us they find these
sculptures as emotionally powerful and
spiritual as anything Gib has ever done.
“Plus I’ve always had a great feeling
in my heart for the underdog. Well,
there’s no bigger underdog than Native
Americans. The way we treated them
was horrible. Much worse, I think, than
the way we treated slaves. I mean, we
just murdered them.
“But on an even deeper level, I just love
the way these guys lived. They cared
about their families and their people
and the earth. They shared everything,
good and bad. They fought bravely and
they died happily when it was necessary
There are several reasons for Gib’s for their honor or their people’s safety.
affinity for Native people, and the They appreciated beauty. They honored
power of his works depicting them. creation.
“Well, first off, I’m about a quarter
“You know, we talk about
Cherokee,” Gib says, “and
becoming
obviously I’m proud of
that.
And,
of course,
one with everything, like
a lot of my best friends
it’s
some
kind of mystic ideal.
in Santa Fe were great
Like it’s almost unattainable and
Native artists – Earl
only
holy men even have a shot
Biss, T. C. Cannon, Allan
at it. But Native people lived it,
Houser, R. C. Gorman, Fritz
man. They saw themselves as
Scholder – and I’ve always
an integral part of all creation,
loved their work.
and as individuals and as a
“Spirit of the Medicine Man”
17” x 31” x 9” and lifesize
people they tried to maintain
“Barely Friends”
18” x 10” x 10”
the
balance
and harmony
of all creation.
That’s a spiritual
life, man. That’s
what I admire.
And that’s what
I try to put into
these sculptures.”
“Trail of Tears”
19” x 9” x 7”
Tatanka
One of Gib’s most powerful western
pieces is “Tatanka” – a depiction of a
Native man astride a massive white
buffalo. “It’s actually kind of a crossover
piece,” Gib says. “It’s Native and western,
for sure, but it’s also really spiritual,
because the white buffalo is big medicine
among the Plains peoples. It’s a very
religious symbol.
“Tatanka is Lakota for ‘bull buffalo’,” he
explains. “Like the great spiritual leader
and war chief we call ‘Sitting Bull’ was
Tatanka Yotanka in his native language.
Buffalo – bison, really, but we call them
buffalo because the first white guys to
see them were French fur trappers
who called them bœufs,
which means like
ox or bullock –
were the center
of Lakota and
Plains life. They
provided food,
clothing, shelter,
tools, fuel . . .
People moved with
the buffalo herds, and
their fortunes rose and
fell with them.
“Their range was way up into Canada,
really almost to the Arctic, all the way
down into what’s now northern
Mexico, and east to the Appalachians.
We’re talking tens of millions of
these big beasts at their peak. And
I do mean big! A good bull might
weigh over a ton. Maybe even
2,500 pounds. And when they
were moving, man, the earth shook.
“The white buffalo is an old legend
among the Lakota people,” Gib says,
“and a lot of other tribes have similar
traditions. The story goes that the
People had lost touch with the Creator
and times were hard. There was no
game and everyone was hungry. So the
Creator sent a messenger to teach the
People ceremonies that would restore
them to peace and balance.
The messenger first
appeared as a white
buffalo,
and
then
transformed into a
beautiful young
woman.
“Then when she was leaving, she said
that one day she would return to purify
the world. She would bring back spiritual
balance and harmony, and the birth of a
white buffalo calf would signify that her
return was at hand.
“So the guy in the sculpture is
praying to his God,” Gib says. “He’s in
communication with his Creator on a
sacred animal, asking for renewal for
all humanity and harmony between all
peoples.
“Well, we all know what happened to
the buffalo. They were hunted almost
to extinction – for food, for sport and
especially for their hides. And as the
herds disappeared, so did the Plains
cultures that depended on them.
“If anything, that made the legend of the
white buffalo even more important,” Gib
says. “A white buffalo is still seen as
a messenger from God, and
even today, the birth of a
white buffalo is seen by
the Native peoples
as a sign that
the mending
of life’s sacred
circle
is
beginning.
“Tatanka” 19” x 16” x 7”
“Because of that, they called her White
Buffalo Calf Woman,” Gib explains. “And
she gave them the seven sacred ceremonies
that are at the heart of Lakota culture,
including the ‘peace pipe’, the sweat lodge,
the vision quest and the sun dance.
“You
know,
when Miracle, a
white buffalo calf, was
born in Wisconsin several
years ago, thousands of
people from all over
the country came to
see her. In some
way, that symbol
touches the hope
in all of us.”
The Gib Singleton Newsletter
Vo1. 1 • Issue 6
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