[art] lusila̱ks - raven the phoenix
2 months, 2 weeks
june's design for my patreon sticker club. if you'd like to sign up to get it in the mail, you have until the 30th!
lusila̱ks translates to "build a fire inside" (lu = inside, si = make, la̱k = fire).
i've gotten lots of comments on my 2021 art of raven as a two-spirit interpretation; i've continued to reflect on it as new people keep talking to me about it. i've especially thought about it in relation to how important transformation is as a concept in tsimshian culture and oral history. reflecting on the famous adaawx of him stealing the sun, i imagined the sun giving off its rainbow of light and enveloping him, and likened that to a phoenix, which are also symbols of transformation.
it's been a weird month in an already weird year. my girlfriend and i had a really close call in our first ever car accident a week ago. we're miraculously unhurt, but we easily could've been, badly. this and other events just have me reeling and are really humbling me1. i'm grateful and lucky to still be here. lusila̱ksu - i'm building my fire inside. even when it's very, very difficult. even when it's scary.
luk'wil t'oyaxsut 'nüüsm da txa'nii goo, ada ama ha'limaaxii ada midmł mootgism. thank you all for everything, and please have a safe and happy pride.
not about jonathan joss as i wrote this for tumblr and bluesky before i found out. but it's certainly been another thing that's heavy on my mind.↩