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Category: Art and Photography
http://flaglive.com/flagstafflive_story.cfm?storyID=198374
-Flaglive June 18-24, 2009. Vol. 15, Issue 25
Painting thru
Navajo artist Jeremy Singer blends Native culture and modern art
By Jennifer Rae Palmer
Published on 06/18/2009
When you think of Native American art, several things may come to mind. Perhaps you reminisce about elementary school field trips to the Museum of Northern Arizona, staring with wonder at the Kachina dolls and elaborate rug designs. But oil painter Jeremy Singer wants to help change your idea of Native American art.
Singer presented a new collection, “From Boxing thru Death,” at Uptown Billiards during June’s First Friday Art Walk, which will remain on display through the month.
His paintings in the show represent his latest works. Singer chose the theme “From Boxing thru Death,” then gathered pieces he thought would work in that theme including “Hanta Virus,” which makes a statement about disease, and “The Boxer,” which features a down-and-out fighter in the ring.
At first glance, it’s difficult not to take note of the bright colors and architectural patterns within the scenes. “Just from being out here, in Arizona, you see the blues and the reds,” Singer says. “Even being out in Tucson, or on the Res, you see those oranges and yellows. I like to look to nature.”
Singer’s paintings represent modern interpretations of an older time. They are simple, yet loud—aching to be heard. “Modernizing the Hogan is relating more of the idea of creating space,” Singer says. “I took the inside of the room, but I abstracted it. It’s a comment on the structural design of houses.”
Each painting has its own face, its own life and its own shape. The paintings don’t leave much to interpretation—they are straight forward and to the point—yet Singer manages to represent his ideas through abstract patterns and shapes.
Each painting is balanced and even, pulling from the natural symmetry in nature. “Symmetrical value of patterns is important to me,” Singer says. “So, everything I’ve done has a lot of balance.”
Singer even tries to relate some of his own humor and personality into his paintings by interpreting a story into his art. “I try to find humor in everything,” Singer says. “I tried to do that in ‘Indian Sunburn,’ because I give you instructions on how to give an Indian sunburn in that painting.”
Singer is inspired by everything around him, including subjects with political and social connotations. For example, in “Story of Corn” Singer features an ear of corn emanating from three skulls with “E85” written on the skulls’ foreheads.
“They took something natural like corn and made it into something man made with the ethanol,” Singer says. “’Story of Corn is about destroying something beautiful.”
Despite the political messages in “Hanta Virus” or “Story of Corn,” Singer insists that he’s not trying to push an agenda. “I’m just trying to express myself as an artist,” says Singer.
Even though Singer’s work isn’t stereotypical of Native American art, Singer relies heavily on his native heritage for inspiration. Singer was born on the Navajo Reservation in 1977. He is a full-blooded Native American of the Navajo tribe.
“I think my art is a combination of modern and the Native culture, but at the same time I don’t want to say that that’s what it is, because it just lumps me in a group,” Singer says. “I’m an artist first, I just happen to be Native American.”
On his Web site, Singers describes in his artist’s statement how he works hard to give a new face to native art: “When someone thinks Native American art, a cliché pops into their head. Art made by Native Americans is seen as a generic picture of an Indian princess, wolf and a teepee. I want to show there are subjects beyond the clichéd teepee and loincloth. As an artist I want to explore and grow.”
Singer started painting in high school when he was just a teenager. His parents were extremely supportive of his passions and encouraged him to continue his education. Once Singer finished his bachelor of fine arts degree, he started putting together collections for fine art galleries and art shows. Singer says he is excited to have his work on display in Flagstaff because he spent so much time here when he attended NAU and has worked so hard to get to this point.
“I hope my art is constantly changing,” Singer says. “I can’t predict what it might change into next. I will keep finding inspiration in things.”
However, Singer says he is hoping to combine his art with digital technologies in order to create something new and different. He hopes to keep pulling inspiration from everything around him, and eventually transcend his current style.
“People like Jackson Pollack took inspiration from Navajo sand paintings, and Picasso took inspiration from indigenous Africa and indigenous Spain,” Singer says. “I feel like I want to reverse that trend. I want to take inspiration from modernist art and from my own culture and put it back out there. I want to reclaim art for us (Native Americans).”
For more information on Jeremy Singer, visit www.jeremysinger.com, and be sure to check out his collection, “From Boxing thru Death,” at Uptown Billiards, 114 N. Leroux, throughout the month of June.
5:33 PM
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