Devyn Powers

      It was interesting to change the spelling of Inca to “Inka” because the letter c can have a soft and hard sound.  Inka means king and calling the Inka empire was a bit misleading. 

In the Andes Mountain Range there is no wheel, market system, writing system, or beasts of burden (cows, oxen). 

 

      There is an incredibly diverse topography in South America.  Dry coastal desert, highlands, and Amazon Basin.  The white and black mountains in the mountain range with snow.  How does the topography and environment affect the type of Inka art?  How does the vertical archipelago environment-interaction affect the diverse Inka Art.  The cotton comes from the coast, llama fur comes from the mountain range, and parrot feathers come from the Amazon River Basin. 

It was interesting that textiles were a form of identity to distinguish social status.  It is a form of communication and is the most important artistic form.  Why are geometric art valued as the highest standard of artistry?  It was interesting to understand the color symbolism of white, as it was only reserved for the emperor.  Because weaving was the fabric of the universe, we are creating a microcosm.  Inka people can take these huge things and reduce it to a small scale and yarn are never cut. 

 

      Maybe I could challenge myself to crochet without cutting.  I could implement shape motifs and add little patterns to communicate a story.  It is interesting to crochet to preserve the culture and experiences. 

I’m not sure if I could shear llama’s fur and spindle my own fibers into yarn.  It was interesting that the Inka people picked  which strings they wanted to show in the front and back to create a double sided textile.  Perhaps, I could dye my own yarn to create a more natural, realistic earthy tones.

It was interesting that the Inka placed emphasis on creating order over chaos.  The Army tunic represents the patchwork of the worked landscape.  Maybe I could reflect my local landscape into my crocheting to create better content.

 

      The making two things whole is called Ayni which are dual aspects are balanced but are not equal. The two different things fit together.  Everything was made in pairs in Inka culture.  In the same way my recent work with the pair of hands represents two different things fitting together to create a coherent whole.