With regard to the development of my work I am engaged in four primary forms of art practice. These diverse forms seek to allow the full participation of one’s self in varied public and private modes.

The first form involves the creation of large celebratory color-contrast paintings. These acrylics on canvas, size 89" x 105", are titled Neuf Series (Neuf is the Cheyenne number four). These works are on-going and originate from the western Oklahoma canyon lands. In 1980 I returned to live on the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal reservation lands. From this rural yet invigorating landscape a painted language began. This language evolved from the cedar trees which populate the grasslands along with the arroyos within the red earth. In 1994 research was begun with urban aboriginal artists in Sydney and Adelaide, Australia. A major collaborative touring exhibition titled 16 Songs was the outcome from the experience along with a striking visualization stemming from swimming in the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. A vision from the dynamic and multi-colored fish gave new vitality to the Neuf Series paintings. In the paintings original phase the landscape played a major role in the composition. At this point the water-world has merged with the pastoral tree forms to create a pulse of color in shapes that grow, overlap and swim through the picture plane. The issue of motion offers a positive notion of movement and change which always holds hope.

The second art practice which has been pursued deals with presenting the complex daily memories and reactions, which we all posses, through large-scale drawings. From our everyday experiences a diary full of notions can be recorded. As I travel and also live through familiar home activities, remarks are collected. These notations on personal reflection chronicle one’s thoughts by describing such events in words. Utilizing markers and 6’ x 9’ rag paper, text both in small and large sizes are rendered to expose diaristic passages. The marker drawings are often created in the studio simultaneously as the Neuf paintings are brushed. Together these two processes express abstracted forms in paint and comment upon direct experiences through drawing, which offers a balance with the two forms.

The third artistic form involves prints and public art collaboration with communities and their inherent histories. This method of working is carried out through archival research, community consultations, engagement with local flora and fauna and visits to historical native sites to ascertain the political and cosmological references that speak of the human condition of a region.

I am currently commissioned to create a large-scale, outdoor, signature public artwork for the Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado. Funding has been secured to support the in-depth planning of the project. The time frame for the work shall be planning 1997-98 and execution of the piece 1999-2000. The scope of the work shall present the natural and political history of the Colorado region as it pertains to native peoples and their interaction with the immigrants of the state. This 12-part project shall enlist the traditional plains tribal renewal form of the stone medicine wheel.

The issues of critical theories and curatorial interests are undertaken as the fourth component of the artistic mission. Artists can be very instrumental in presenting a clear and insightful vision of art history both past and present. I find it very important to comment in written form upon art and present analysis of artistic expression through curatorial efforts.

Recently I presented a written piece for the catalogue and exhibition Plains Indian Drawings 1865-1935 Pages From a Visual History. This project originated at The Drawing Center, New York, New York and is currently being exhibited at The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada. My energies in the curatorial mode have been recently manifested in the nationally touring exhibition titled Days of Invention. This exhibition show-cased the works of two graduate students from The University of Oklahoma along with two other young artists. The project is now on tour and opened at The Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, The American Indian Community House Gallery in SoHo, New York, New York and The Fine Arts Center, Lubbock, Texas. I have also co-curated the fore mentioned collaborative aboriginal exhibition titled 16 Songs. This exhibition has been presented in numerous venues: University Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, The St. Louis Museum of Art, St. Louis, Missouri, University Art Gallery, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado, The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, Reinberger Galleries, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, The University Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara California, The Sesnon Gallery, University of California, Santa Cruz, California and Day Break Star Art Center, Sacred Circle Gallery, Seattle, Washington. The opportunity to curate exhibitions often allows artists and students with whom I am working to gain exposure for their work. Curatorial projects can also facilitate the concepts and theories of one’s art to come to fruition.