By Diane Majeske
In Kashi’s world, there are jewels and feathers, sequins and stars, belts, beads, shiny threads, and smooth shells. There’s lace and flowers, a touch of whimsy, a hint of darkness, and a tangible passion for art.
In the midst of it all, there is Kashi Amma Walters, blissfully creating and steadily earning praise for her ornate pieces which run the gamut from jewelry to costumes to headpieces to sculptures.
“I love anything that’s magical, mysterious, mythical, and spiritual,” says the self-taught artist. “I resonate with my creations—they’re not just pretty little things. They bring me to life. They connect me to something bigger than the mundane world. I’m a spiritual person, and a lot of my art reflects that.”
For Walters, spirituality is a part of day-to-day life; she and her husband, Swami Atmananda Saraswati, run the Kashi Niva Shivas Meditation Ashram in Ann Arbor. She joined the Ann Arbor community in 2014, arriving from Australia where she had met her soon-to-be husband, and soon felt at home.
In Australia, Walters already had begun following a spiritual path, joining an ashram in her 20s and studying with a variety of spiritual teachers.
“I was always creative in school, but there was a part of me that wanted to be of service to others,” says Walters, 42. “I’ve always done some type of volunteer work. I just never knew how it would work out in my life.”
While many of the Ann Arbor ashram devotional and meditational programs were forced to pause during Covid-19, Walters found her creativity working overtime.
Gathering up a few beads and shells one day, she spontaneously decided to design and create a necklace, placing it for sale in the small store in the ashram. To her surprise, the next day a student saw it, fell in love with it, and paid her three times the asking price.
“I absolutely couldn’t believe it,” she says, laughing. ‘I was like, ‘Whoa!’ And I started making more jewelry.”
Art that reflects life
Walters’ jewelry is ornate, intricate, gothic in style, and layered in symbolism.
“In many of my pieces, you may see something that is really pretty, like a sequin or stone, but then a tinge of something dark—like a skull,” Walters says. “That’ s because life is both light and dark, and in human nature there is both light and dark. Art is an expression of life—it’s not just one thing: it’s a combination. So, you’ll see that reflected in my pieces; there is beauty, there is ugliness, there is light and there is darkness.”
“The care that Walters puts into each piece she creates is obvious,” says Katie Parzych, a friend of Walters who has helped her model jewelry on her Instagram page.
“Each piece has such a strong vision,” Parzych says. “I’m so just impressed on how every piece has its own personality—they’re truly magical. Kashi is such a loving person, and that really comes through in her work.”
Parzych has watched her friend evolve from creating jewelry to branching out to other media such as costumes, sculptures, and headdresses. “It’s been so exciting for me to watch,” she says. “She just seems to excel at every medium she tries.”
Ask Walters, though, and she’s far more modest saying it’s simply a matter of trial and error, of embracing mistakes, changing plans, and being open to new ideas.
“I had only been doing jewelry, and a friend wanted me to make her a wall-hanging mask of a Hindu god and I was like, ‘I don’t sculpt!’ But she was like, ‘Oh, you can do it,’ so I decided to try it—doing a practice one before I tried hers.”
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Using a polymer clay, she found she reveled in the process of meticulously creating something from nothing, of carving facial features and uncovering the symbols and stories behind the gods and goddesses she was asked to bring to artistic life.
“I simply fell in love with sculpting,” Walters says. “There is just something in me that is being driven to create in more and different ways and I’m going to let it be, let it do that. I think there are things in life we need to live out. Instead of pulling away, we need to live it out, live it mindfully and be healthy with it. I think that’s the spiritual aspect that comes with art for me.”
Susan Thompson, of Dexter, commissioned Walters to create a sculpture of Kali, a Hindu goddess with a rich, complex history. She was thrilled with the result.
“It’s beautiful; it’s actually more than that—it’s inspiring,” she says. “It’s difficult for me to even find words to describe it. I love the way she customized for it for me and placed so many symbols within the sculpture. She puts everything she has into a project, and her passion for art truly comes through.”
Art for art’s sake
Most of Walters’ art pieces are created for others—by commission or for sale through her business, Arcane Expressions. And orders for them have been steadily growing, primarily by word-of-mouth or through her visits to the Ann Arbor artisan market.
Occasionally, though, there’s a project that comes to fruition simply because she feels the thrill and the desire to create.
Enter The Woodland Fairy, her most ornate costume yet.
The Woodland Fairy is a frothy concoction of lace, flowers, and tulle, with delicate wings, a bustle skirt and an elaborate headdress complete with handmade antlers—Walters’ ode to the divine Mother Earth.
“I created The Woodland Fairy costume during Covid lockdown,” she recalls. “Everything was so quiet, and I was starting to connect more deeply to nature. I would take walks every day, and because it was so quiet, I could just feel nature more. You could see more creatures out and about and I was taking it in, and it was just truly magical.”
She was inspired. “I started thinking about the nature spirit, and the divine Mother Earth, and how I could mix that in with the creation of a costume,” she says. “It was my expression of connecting with nature and Earth and the fairy elements.”
Starting with a wedding gown she found at the Salvation Army and dyed green, she went to work. “It was so fun to make—and it was something just for me. The entire time I was making it, I was connecting with and thinking of nature,” she says.
During a recent photo session at the Arb wearing the costume, many people, including children, approached her with questions, compliments, and even invitations to events.
It’s a perfect example of how immersed she becomes in each project she takes on. “When I’m creating, anything really—the sculpting, the jewelry, the costumes, whatever it is—I’m working within a specific vibration. Each piece has a certain energy and I’m working within that, and I attempt to bring that through into that piece.”
When she creates malas, or prayer beads, her art becomes decidedly spiritual.
“Art can be a spiritual experience and it can be meditative at times, as well,” Walters says. “When I create these particular items, I cleanse my space. I do a puja, which is a ritual that connects you to the divine, and I tie each knot with a mantra. They can take up to two hours to make, and I’m in a meditative state during that time, consumed by that and only that. That intention, that mantra, and that vibration is going into that [object] for someone. That’s very important for me.”
Her style continues to change and develop as she grows as a person.
“I think as I get older, there is more confidence,” Walters says. “Also, I have spiritual practices that I do every day—I do yoga, I connect with nature, connect with myself. I know myself better. At this point in my life, this creativity is coming from a very deep place—when someone gets a piece of my art, they’re getting a piece of me, for sure.”
She hopes everyone can find inspiration through personal expression that makes their life more fulfilling.
“We all have our own energy that comes from within,” she says. “It’s so important that we find our own thing that lets us express ourselves. We’re not one-dimensional beings. Ultimately, we exist beyond the mind and body. We’re a soul, and the true self is beyond anything the mind can imagine. Through my artwork, I get to express all these different parts of me, and it’s so enjoyable. It’s something I want to share.”
You can find Walter’s art on Instagram @arcaneexpressions, on her Facebook page @Arcane Expressions, or Twisted Things Organic Apothecary and Curious Goods in Ypsilanti, MI. For commissions you can call (734) 883-6947.
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