Okay, left over from our Washington trip this image from the Native American Museum...I really love the work of the late Fritz Scholder...being part Native myself, I enjoy the insight he provides into the culture...his view is not typical Indian craft and language and he was not always popular with his people...they often felt he disrupted the tradition and spoke too often in the language of white man...He created a bridge into this world...an artist trying to bring worlds together and reconcile the past with the future...this piece, "Indian in a Car," combines the central figurative work of religious art with the influence of artists like Francis Bacon...the face is spread and unnatural...there is an uneasy feeling we get from the bent arm, missing hands and smudged face...the tall feather on the side of the head is the only clue to the notion of "Native"...but there may be other clues...the awkwardness of the figure in the space...as if technology is foreign to this traveler...Fritz tries to subtly narrate his life, the intent is to get us to think and explore...not only to better understand his environment, but to also see how the west has influenced Native people and how the Native culture has impacted us.
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