Silver City, NM- SABA, a Navajo artist, came up from Las Cruces, NM on Tuesday to paint a new mural in honor of Native American Week. He brought with him his wife Shana and two kids, Patience and Canyon. SABA is originally from Farmington but belongs to both the Jemez Pueblo and Navajo Nation. Growing up in Farmingtion is part of the reason he got into painting.
“It started as a way to deal with life.” He began, “There’s the positive way, the constructive way, and then there’s not that way. I grew up in a crazy environment and learned to embrace the paint. People have been painting on the walls before there were walls.” That painting as evolved from ancient cave paintings to the Arrowsoul mural SABA is working on. As you may gather form the name, Arrowsoul uses aerosol paints to create art. The name Arrowsoul has a much deeper meaning beyond a clever pun however.
“The arrow is a common symbol in graffiti art but it is also a tool used by native warriors and hunters. Soul comes from the deep and soulful indigenous roots of our culture. Graffiti is natural. Give a two year old a crayon and after he fills a book; he will look at a wall and see a bigger canvas.” When phrased like that it becomes easier to understand that the connection that all people may have through art. As for why that could be, SABA has an idea about that as well.
“It’s a means of communication of feelings outward, it’s a way of passing on traditions, and it’s a way to keep connected with ‘future old school’.”
Future old school may seem like a contradiction but it is simply saying that even the future will become ancient. Drawing on walls can connect us to the past by means of cave drawings and pictographs and petroglyphs. Similarly, future generations can look back at our graffiti carved or painted on the walls and may one day feel closer to us. The ancients may not have had spray paint in the way we think of it but according to SABA: “It’s an easier and is way more convenient”. True as this may be the effect and reason for SABA’s art is still the same now as it was centuries ago: it builds community.
You can see more of SABA’s work on his website at www.sabahut.com
