Thomas Poolaw Kiowa/Delaware

As a youth I was heavily influenced during the late 1960’s an 1970’s by the American Indian artists of southwest Oklahoma and the photography of Horace Poolaw. In 1980
I entered art school at the University of Oklahoma. Since then I have been making acrylic paintings and more recently digital images.

Process is the focus of my work. I choose formats and situations that encourage spontaneity and experimentation. The journey must be exciting and inspired. I want to produce something nearer to poetry than documentation.

My work usually deals with Native American subject matter expressed in a contemporary manner. It doesn’t always have to, but that’s who I am and where I come from. I hope the work reflects the status of today’s Native American individual, that is complex, modern and spiritual.