The First Nations

Andre — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:16:55 +0000

The artwork “The Premonition in the Badlands” represents the compact summary of the imperialist attitude towards The Native Nations. Symbolically it depicts the general attitude of the Colonizer towards the Colonized and its evident consequences. I have appropriated one of Edward S. Curtis’s photographs in order to depict the essence of the conflict of interest existing between the Colonizer and the Colonized. My artwork represents the incompatibility of interests and values held by the Colonized and the Colonizer. However, the artwork was created with the use of two different mediums that combined together, also show the possibility of peaceful cohabitation of the Native Nations and the “White Man.” It suggests also the existence of hope for common understanding and mutual respect between Native and Western cultures within our Contemporary realities.

In my recent paintings I am approaching the issue of Western interference in cultural values of the First Nations by confronting the figurative interpretation of Edward Sherrif Curtis’s pictures of the West with the chromatic abstract compositions reflecting allegorically the Contemporary World. Both realities confronting each other symbolically on the same surface of the canvas. It creates a kind of unity and underline the necessity of coexistence of both cultural values.

To view the selected artworks about the First Nations Contemporary issues click here.

To view the selected sketches from the Kahnawake POW WOW click here.

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