Wings (after Chrystos)

summary

Chrystos (1946-) is a Menominee two-spirit lesbian poet born in San Francisco. What stood out to me while reading their 1988 collection, Not Vanishing, was how Chrystos balanced rage toward white supremacy with the tenderness of lesbian intimacy. This poem, “Wings of a Wild Goose” said so much about Indigeneity through the unassuming symbol of goose wings. In some ways, that made the translation to a visual medium easier. I loved Chrystos’ gentleness with the wings because he goose reminded them of themself. I also loved the line, “meat raised for slaughter is very different than meat taken from the woods where so few wild beings survive.” The wings on the wall are not lifeless- they contain the spirit of the goose, the memory of everything they could’ve been, and what they continue to be. The ghost or shadow of the whole goose over the skeletal wings is a reminder of this. It was difficult for me to create a print of the indoors, almost shut off from the world. I did not want to create a piece about Native isolation or loneliness, it felt too real and familiar. But that’s part of what Chrystos is saying too. We construct our own worlds through our homes and other safe places so that we are never truly alone. We recognize all living creatures as our siblings. We maintain our freedom and autonomy in small spaces. Chrystos feels like an auntie, like someone who regularly visits your grandma’s house and who always comments on your mother’s facebook posts. They give you blunt life advice and smell like cigarettes and tell you embarrassing stories about your relatives from before you were born. Chrystos does not necessarily feel like a blood relative, but people of color know that this does not mean they’re not family.