Avanyu, Guardian of Water

By Rebekah Powers | December 2022

The plumed serpent, Avanyu first appeared a thousand years ago on high canyon walls and caves as a petroglyph, and on black and white Mimbres pottery. A dragon, with an undulating form that suggests water, or sometimes a zig zag form that representing lightning, the “Storm Bringer” undulated through early Casas Grandes designs, snaking its way into the upper Rio Grande Tewa and Tiwa tribes around 1325.

The benevolent but fearful creature eventually appeared on the surfaces of Pueblo Pottery, circling around a vessel, sometimes excised deeply into the clay. Avanyu also represents metamorphosis and indeed has continued to evolve within the Native American lexicon of symbols, sometimes with a bolt of lightning from its open mouth to coax rain, and has retained its importance as a symbol for Life itself.

Tammy Garcia is one of the most acclaimed artists of Santa Clara Pueblo, famous for her smoothly polished, deeply carved black ware that often incorporates the sacred image and classic design of Avanyu. Metamorphosis also describes her work as it has developed through time into sculptural iconography.

Garcia’s work is exemplified in this singular bronze sculpture, “Avanyu” now available at Chimayo Trading. The artist chose bronze to represent this ornate interpretive carving because it is timeless, and it blurs boundaries, expands the definitions and combines the aesthetics of Native American Art in the name of Avanyu, and of Tammy Garcia.

The royal bloodline of Tammy Garcia includes her mother, Linda Cain and grandmother Mary Cain who conveyed a generational legacy that has made Tammy one of the most renowned living Pueblo artists of our time. Her immutable spirit lives in this piece and is available now in our spacious adobe gallery to add to your collection.

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Contact us directly to discuss and evaluate your collection. If you’re an artist, contact us about the possibility of selling your art on consignment or direct wholesale purchase.

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