As a figurative artist my work is an intersection of autobiography and community. I depict my culture and the relationship between perception and experience through genre scenes and portraits of people from my home reservation in New York. 

Representation of Native peoples from a Native perspective is important to me. Sometimes that representation includes specific, identifiable symbols and sometimes it does not - because the figures within my paintings define their culture on their own terms. The work asks the viewer to search further for the paintings meaning to wonder “why this image”, “why this person or these people” - not to prove authenticity but to disprove what others think is “authentic.”

I incorporate community and family members into my paintings, which gives the work a strong personal and emotional component. The paintings are from my gaze and the surface becomes a window into the everyday life, domestic setting, and familiar surroundings of the participating figures. The works are visual narratives of the people’s histories capturing what it means to be Indian today. I feel I am always searching to make my work more honest and heartfelt, something that I hope allows the viewer to really tune in to the intimacy, vibrancy, and resilience of the people.

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