Cowboys And Indians, 2013

I was describing the internal conflict between selfishness and duty, between wildness and civilization, between anachronism and modernity. The yearning for the freedom of solitude versus the yearning to participate in community. Round and round th...

I was describing the internal conflict between selfishness and duty, between wildness and civilization, between anachronism and modernity. The yearning for the freedom of solitude versus the yearning to participate in community. Round and round they go. This painting can be hung with either the Indian ascendant, or the Cowboy. It is not intended to appropriate cultural motifs, nor is it a criticism of Native Americans. The Indian figure can symbolize community and duty as easily as the cowboy, and the cowboy can symbolize antisocial isolation as easily as the Indian. When the Indian ascends, the painting is called Indians and Cowboys.