I think my masks reference artists who reference primitivism. They're not directly connected to tribal arts. I think they look more like third-grade art projects.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Most painting in the European tradition was painting the mask. Modern art rejected all that. Our subject matter was the person behind the mask.
It is a career of make-believe, of masks. We all have masks in life.
I think that artworks are like these spiritual objects: I think that they have energies and powers beyond what the eye can see.
Masks are wonderfully paradoxical in this way: while they may hide the physical reality, they can show us how a person wants to be seen.
I write on sacred stories, symbols and rituals of all cultures - European, American and Chinese - but my audiences, typically, like me to focus on India.
I have a real interest in working with younger Native artists. I think it's a very important way for Native people to communicate the realities of our culture and remember our ancestors.
What's nice about 'Skinwalkers' is it's allowing an audience to see a different Indian perspective... I think, for myself, I'm trying to put the Indian perspective in a different dimension.
Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.
Actually, I don't think there's anyone that represents the artists, except the artists themselves.
You know, face painting in non-Western cultures is a sign of collectivism, is a sign of one representing the community, it's not unique at all.