Steven Deo
Artist's Statement

My recent work represents commentary on the various aspects of an identity shaped by personal history, the larger American history, and current issues that impact the human sociology. As one voice within the context of the human experience, I can only speak from a perspective that mirrors an aesthetic modeled by the constant generational and cultural shift away from the original people of this continent. In my work, I embrace modernity and reclaim those images that are familiar to the way that I perceive my existence in the world.

As a contemporary artist of Native American descent, identity has been a constant point of reference. Often, I've looked into the past through the eyes of the camera at images of my personal family or images that are provided in the context of Western history. In this examination and comparison of the Indian of the distant past to the present, the Native American is a reflection of his environment. As his environment has changed through the processes of modernity, so has his self perception.

When nature was our only environment, we told stories of our values within the nature of animals. We looked to the sky and made kinship to the stars, the moon and the sun. The earth lived under our bare feet and rivers flowed through our bodies and minds and filled our thoughts with a world that lived deep inside the earth. Our beginnings were contemplated in great councils and creation was the mystery to be solved.

Today our nature has changed. Our nature has been covered with concrete and steel and asphalt. We have been relocated, dislocated, grouped and regrouped, numbered, and scattered. We are brought back together in short intervals for pow wow, ceremony, enlistment, or Indian school. At present, we are known to each other as colleagues, officers, fellow students, or peers. The one commonality we have left is an extended family called "Indian."

When I was a young child, my great grandmother held me in her arms and looked into my new eyes, and I into her aged sight. The gaze we exchanged became the meeting place of the far distant past and the unknown future. Her touch and prayers held the hope that her children may cope with a future that she couldn't warn against. And, in those human acknowledgments, she related to the future - to let go of the qualities that make us indigenous to America. In my wake, I continually think about the people I came from. The language they spoke becomes clouded by time and daily life. The songs from the beginning of creation resonate in my daydreams, and solace is found in that sacred place called art.