Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
Stewart, Susan |
Other names |
Susan Stewart-Medicine Horse Her Colors are Good Esh-Ba'-E-Loua-It-Chay |
Nationality or Tribal Affiliation |
Crow/Blackfeet |
Dates & places of birth and death |
b. May 22, 1953 in Livermore, CA |
Education |
1971-75: majored in Painting and Education at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, CA 1981: B.F.A. from Montana State University in Bozeman, MT |
Places of residence |
Reno, NV Oakland, CA Lodge Grass, Crow Indian Reservation, MT Bozeman, MT Pryor, MT |
Notes |
"The Crow Indian culture and, ultimately, my extended familiy has influenced me with a desire to be in touch with an intuitive knowledge. It is through this powerful influence that my strong search for self definition began. Many of my paintings are based on this search of self. "My work as an artist is also inspired by my surroundings in the vast landscape of Montana. I see my work as a connection to the community where I come from, a tangible expression of the feelings for that community and ultimately what I can give back to the community; my art is one way of giving back to my family, to my clan, the "Big Lodge" and my tribe, the Crows." Artist Statement, 1999 "...My paintings are a reflection of my inner visions. I combine color, spontaneity, and the free flowing medium of watercolor and draw on the inspiration of my background which I try to reflect in a contemporary manner...." - Artist Statement, 1978 "No Life After? In these times of uncertainty, with the environment being constantly abused and consumed for the sake of money and greed, I did this monotype as a response to my feelings about the earth the mother. As a Crow/Blackfeet Indian, my belief system as regards to the earth has always been spiritual. Thus my work has been influenced and sustained by the land base -- the earth, my environment where I live. I especially find this to be true because the area where I live was inhabited by indigenous peoples for thousands of years before the Euroamericans that live there now. My connection to the land is strong, mainly, I believe, because of this thousand-year-old history. How many can say, for example, I touch the mother, the land that twenty generations before me has touched, so I cry the tears of joy and sadness of birth and death of generations before me, of generations to come. When I feel that the earth has sustained people for so long, has nurtured us, has given so much, my question is, How do I honor this mother called EARTH? This piece was done with that thought in mind, paying homage to her. The ground lizard is a symbol of long life, the diamond shape is the ground lizard symbol that Crow mothers would put on their child's cradleboards as a protection in hope that their child would live a long and happy life. It's just a symbol of my hope for the mother to sustain the many abuses that her children have given her, that she too will have a long life. After all, we only borrow this mother from our grandchildren." |
