SONG TO THE BODIES OF KNOWLEDGE

April 5, 2013
Spanish seduction dress

You'd think it would be the logical option, but the notion of freedom is defeated and defended by people's fears of not being bound.  This paradox lives in so many contradicting the notion of freedom and the tenets of faith espoused by so many. Freedom and love are actions. Fear and illogical belief patterns are drawings made by spirits housed in bodies sung to by slave songs. The bodies of knowledge that support freedom are often not seen for what they really are because of the slave songs sung to the notion of being free! 

This being said Elders and the Wise Ones continually find ways to re-tell stories of power to the uninitiated, the fearful, and the dull, and ignorant people whose personal stories hold them bound and tethered. 

It is words such as yours, Elder Vicki Johnson, "Chose freedom, even if it's inconvenient  and makes other people uncomfortable. You always have the option to chose freedom for yourself..." that points one's steps towards freeing their mind, spirit, and soul. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4.16.13

sculptor Vinnie Bagwell
April 16, 2013

Captured from within

Immersion into an art form transforms the artist. I learned this studying what you create and what you allow the photographer to capture with his camera of you. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4.16.13

by Vinnie Bagwell
March 28, 2013

"REGARDING THE RACE:

Set before us...the need for endurance; the focus of our vision; keeping the rules; self-discipline; and the desire and determination to win. If we lack in any of these areas, we will become vulnerable to defeat and failure. Don't think about defeat, you cannot fail." - Vinnie Bagwell

sacred whore series: gender & birth

art by Vinnie Bagwell - baby in the hand

GODDESS, GOD & TRUTH

“I wonder if the intellectual conflict around gender is more directly related to the abuse of the female gender by the male, and I also wonder if the naming of genders to Creation is directly linked to how we see ourselves in the world!” – Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREGORY- Vinnie Bagwell

Vinnie, the beauty here is layered, plain in sight, hidden, implied, and clear. The process of creating, this photo tells me, comes from breath. You are the Creatress breathing life into a form translated from the formless world of your Dreamtime, your Vision, your memory of Before. This means a great deal you sharing something this intimate, personal with me, Vinnie. Thank you. - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories

LIFE, MYSTERY & SIMPLICITY

Abram's Creek picture a light show

"I am moved by the poetry of embracing life, and the emotions capable of evolving from the scrimmage of base elements that generate mystery to the everyday." ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

art - I'SATTA in bronze by Vinnie Bagwell

Vinnie Bagwell, the artist

AFRICAN-AMERICAN SURVIVAL, & LIVING

“Deep in the recesses of the consciousness of African-American culture, hidden, is a survival skill fundamental to the experiences of birthing the next generation, protecting the children, and empowering a weakened structure, and the value of their men. Those attributes came from a survival skill set centered upon Life, and what it meant coming through the birth passage, the womb, the Middle Passage, suckling the breasts of the colored mother, the Negro woman, the granddaughters of ex-slaves. The power and ingenuity of her design and the make up of her art lies within the maturity, and the mystique the Black woman, the African-American woman, the Negro, and the colored women who clung to the spiritual roots and religious tenets, as best they could, of Ifá, and the elements of power, war, magic, and the sensuous magic that compelled, renewed, revolted, and repeled in a breath, a glance, or a touch.

Vinnie Bagwell, sculptor, for me, has captured these things in a breath, a look, a pause, and a moment in the twinkle of an eye. These are my words. I am Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories.”