Introduction
Contemporary
native art is produced by individuals from diverse cultures and settings, and
because these individuals offer the viewer manifold and evolving words and
images, it is imperative that the artists themselves describe the contours of
their own and, by extension Native art history and practice. Contemporary art
by indigenous artists reflect the unique sensibility of the individual who
produced it and that sensibility is shaped in many ways. The voice of the
artist can help us understand the context – personal, cultural, historical –
out of which his or her art emerges. – 130
Anita
Fields
The
artist’s role in history has always been to document what is going on in the
here and now. – 132
Harry
Fonseca
Bob
Haozous
Joanna
Osburn-Bigfeather
Melaine
Printup Hope
Lisa
Mayo
George
Morrison
Ramona
Sakiestewa
Duane
Slick
Richard
Ray Whitman
Wolf
Song
The
fact is that there is no artist who is frozen in time, so as a storyteller I
see my purpose as keeping the old tradition alive, being a voice for old
stories, the stories of creation, the stories of good people and not-so-good
people and the tricksters and also bringing that voice into the contemporary
era because the lessons are timeless. – 159
Elizabeth
Woody
