MICHAEL BILLIE is a Navajo encaustic and resin artist from Farmington, New Mexico.
Resin Art is fairly new to Michael and recently he has incorporated the use of the bundles and encaustic along with the resin. When he makes the resin dam for the pour, the tape can move the resin and leave a lip on the piece so there are not always straight sides.(He could trim but instead prefers to let the pieces do their own thing). A Michael Billie creation evolves as he works and no two pieces are alike. The bundles in his work have been part of his compositions for years. Sometimes Michael uses wrapped buffalo or horse hair with a small bag full of cedar. Cedar is used for ceremonial blessings.
A friend once told Michael about an old story between the Navajos and the Hopi that involved two sacred bundles. The Navajos had given two sacred bundles to the Hopi in exchange for their help to obtain freedom from imprisonment at Fort Sumner. According to the story the two bundles are still around and kept in two Hopi family homes. To Michael, bundles or a medicine bag and are a gift waiting to be revealed or a medicine bag and a secret never to be exposed.
The bundles and natural elements remind Michael of the power art can have and he blesses each piece of art so that it protects its new home.