Facing the Future (SOLD)

“Facing the Future”

As in much of my recent work, I have explored the difficult unknown future that the Comanches faced.  By the 1870s, the Buffalo, which had been the lifeblood of this nomadic, Plains Indian tribe had been annihilated by the poaching white hunters.  Their food source was gone and they were starving.  As the leader of his people, he had some tough decisions to make.  Life was about to change forever as they had known it for hundreds of years.  Where would they go?  How would they sustain themselves?  Were they to face final surrender to the white foe they had so successfully fought for years?

The dominant symbol in the left quadrant of this 48”x48” painting was the Plains Indians sign of the Medicine Man….which in this situation was a strong symbol of Predicting the Future.  This painting captures the strong desire of Chief Parker to seek wisdom and vision for his people.

The figures in the painting all face to the left, looking into the distance, as the diamond-shaped symbol looms before them in the sky and on the land in the background and then on the left corner.

I recently read about Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting, “Starry Night”.   You know the one.  Interestingly, Van Gogh considered this painting to be a failure because he felt he had progressed too far into Abstraction, and he felt it would not be well accepted for that reason.  We all know the rest of the story…contrary to his fear, the world “got it”.

In my painting here, I too have chosen to strengthen the message by Abstraction.  The harsh, primitive brushwork is an attempt to convey the brutality and strength I believe the story deserves.  Chief Parker’s companions are gradually diminished by abstraction and loose suggestion, indicating that the past is fading and becoming less clear, but there is enough information for the viewer’s eye.

I have used some metallic Copper and Irridescent White in this work to strengthen the mysterious, reflective nature of the spiritual experience.

Like all my work in this series, I have used historic, have written deed documents from the 1890s from Parker County, Texas, glued to the canvas as a base for this painting.  These deeds conveyed lands once controlled by the Comanches and Parker County was named after Isaac Parker, Quanah’s mother‘s uncle.  Embedding these documents into the art piece lends authenticity to the painting and the story and gives the painting an added dimension.