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A story of Peace and Dissension and the forces that keep them in balance wraps around the beaded Lake Otsego Urn. I used beads and crystals to show a person calmly canoeing near Council Rock. But in a distance the Horned Serpent swims his way through the Waters as he looks to disrupt the peace. However, his disrupting influence is stopped by the Thunderers (represented in humanoid and avian shape) as they use Lightening to dissuade the Serpent. Our responsibilities to each other–to work together– as forces around us work to sow discord, is illustrated in this imagery.
-Karen Ann Hoffman
Artist
Karen Ann Hoffman
Otsego Urn
Date2022
DimensionsOverall: 18 × 12 3/4 in. (45.7 × 32.4 cm)
Object numberN0004.2022
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Museum Purchase
Label TextLake Otsego Urn honors the art of my Haudenosaunee ancestors and recalls stories of Otsego Lake. Its generous body holds memory and culture, and the turquoise velvet recalls the waters of the lake. Memory says that Place of the Rock (Lake Otsego) was council grounds for generations before the settlers came, and today Council Rock still rises knee high above the waters offering a neutral place of peace and consultation.A story of Peace and Dissension and the forces that keep them in balance wraps around the beaded Lake Otsego Urn. I used beads and crystals to show a person calmly canoeing near Council Rock. But in a distance the Horned Serpent swims his way through the Waters as he looks to disrupt the peace. However, his disrupting influence is stopped by the Thunderers (represented in humanoid and avian shape) as they use Lightening to dissuade the Serpent. Our responsibilities to each other–to work together– as forces around us work to sow discord, is illustrated in this imagery.
-Karen Ann Hoffman
On View
On view
