Handmade Mexico Huichol Nierika Rabbit Deer Beadwork, "eARThiness"

White rabbits chase glowing orange deer around an exquisite nierika, or votive beadwork composition by Kupihaute, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artisan, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl, Spanish and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "This nierika/mirror represents the duality of our existence. The rabbit symbolizes the permanent movement of earthiness reflected in the lunar mirror. The deer is the spirit that animates the movement of our wise memory, marking the spiral path of our ancestral cultures in permanent transformation and adaptation around the peyote-maize." The artist has created the word "eARThiness" to emphasize the word "art" found inside "earth." "For me, this eARThiness is very important and meaningful."

The intricate images are formed with tiny seed beads. Kupihuate patiently places them one at a time with a needle made of abalone shell onto a huanacaxtle wood backing. Beeswax is used instead of glue.

The process is totally spontaneous, with no previous sketch or design. It is guided by the artist's unconscious to tell the stories that remain in our collective ancestral memory. He signs his work with the symbol of a butterfly on the reverse side of the nierika.