Photo © Tom Jones
Culture - NOMINEE: Tom Jones
Strong Unrelenting Spirits
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Strong Unrelenting Spirits
These portraits are rooted in Ho-Chunk identity. For the past eighteen years, I have been working on an ongoing photographic series on the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Through the use of portraiture I am giving both the tribe and the outside world a perspective from someone who comes from within the community. I have incorporated the beading of traditional floral designs directly onto the photograph, in order to give a symbolic representation of our culture. I am interested in broadening the conversation of portraiture in mainstream art and to present a nation that is generally unseen in popular culture.
About author:
Tom Jones is an artist, curator, writer, and educator. He is an Associate Professor of Photography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Fine Arts in Photography and a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois.
Jones’ artwork is a commentary on American Indian identity, experience and perception. He is examining how American Indian culture is represented through popular culture and raises questions about these depictions of identity by non-natives and Natives alike. He continues to work on an ongoing photographic essay on the contemporary life of his tribe, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin.
Jones co-authored the book “People of the Big Voice, Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1943.” He is also the co-curator for the exhibition “For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw” at the National Museum of the American Indian. His artwork is in numerous private and public collections, most notably: The National Museum of the American Indian, Polaroid Corporation, Sprint Corporation, The Chazen Museum of Art, The Nerman Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Museum of Contemporary of Native Arts and Microsoft.
These portraits are rooted in Ho-Chunk identity. For the past eighteen years, I have been working on an ongoing photographic series on the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Through the use of portraiture I am giving both the tribe and the outside world a perspective from someone who comes from within the community. I have incorporated the beading of traditional floral designs directly onto the photograph, in order to give a symbolic representation of our culture. I am interested in broadening the conversation of portraiture in mainstream art and to present a nation that is generally unseen in popular culture.
About author:
Tom Jones is an artist, curator, writer, and educator. He is an Associate Professor of Photography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Fine Arts in Photography and a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois.
Jones’ artwork is a commentary on American Indian identity, experience and perception. He is examining how American Indian culture is represented through popular culture and raises questions about these depictions of identity by non-natives and Natives alike. He continues to work on an ongoing photographic essay on the contemporary life of his tribe, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin.
Jones co-authored the book “People of the Big Voice, Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1943.” He is also the co-curator for the exhibition “For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw” at the National Museum of the American Indian. His artwork is in numerous private and public collections, most notably: The National Museum of the American Indian, Polaroid Corporation, Sprint Corporation, The Chazen Museum of Art, The Nerman Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Museum of Contemporary of Native Arts and Microsoft.