Product Description
This is the openwork reading of Erzulie Freda's veve. The artist has cut the background away entirely, so the symbol stands as line and shadow against whatever wall it hangs on, and left the steel dark and oxidized. Star points finish the vertical axis at top and bottom, and the scrollwork opens outward in loose curls. We carry a second version of this same veve, worked by a different artist as a solid silvered medallion. Same spirit, same symbol, two hands. They are made to be seen together and many customers take the pair. What a Veve Is A veve is the signature of a single lwa, one of the spirits served in Haitian Vodou. Before a ceremony, an oungan or a manbo traces it on the floor of the temple in cornmeal and wood ash, and the spirit is invited to descend through it. Each lwa has one veve and one only, so the symbol works as a name. Nothing about it is decorative in origin - it is how a spirit is called by the correcttitle. Erzulie Freda's veve is built on the heart, and hers is whole and unbroken. That single detail is how you tell it from the veve of her sister Erzulie Dantor, whose heart is pierced by a knife. If you are ever choosing between two Erzulie pieces, look at the heart first. Who Erzulie Freda Is Erzulie Freda - Ezili Freda in Kreyol - is the lwa of love, beauty, luxury and femininity, and a great power as a lover. She is also known for her jealousy and her unpredictable nature; she is not a gentle spirit, she is a passionate one. She wears three wedding rings, one for each of her husbands, and she is offered perfume, jewelry, flowers and sweet liqueurs. Her colors are pink, blue, white and gold. About This Piece This ornament begins as a 50-gallon steel oil drum. The artist burns out the inside with banana and sugar cane leaves, cuts the drum open and flattens it into a metal canvas roughly 3 feet by 6 feet. The design is then traced and cut entirely by hand with a hammer and chisel, and finished with a protective coating. The work is done in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti, where this tradition has been passed down since the 1950s. No two pieces are identical. Fair trade. The artist is paid directly. 4 inches. Hangs as an ornament or sits as a small wall piece.It's Cactus Metal Art Haiti
