Fusions of Time and Culture
By Barbara Sorensen

Paintings by Kevin Red Star simultaneously soothe and stimulate, so tempered they are with muted shades of burnt orange, forest greens, dark turquoise and lavenders. Glancing closer, one discovers floral patterns, geometric designs and the intricacy of bead work. This is studied painting, works created by years of fusing together the expressions of the Northern Plains tribes.
   Red Star, who is Crow, grew up in Montana, in the simple surroundings of earth and sky. Around him relatives were busy living through color, music and dance. “When we’re young, we’re uninhibited,” Red Star mused when I asked him how he first became conscious of himself as an artist. “Everything stems way back,way back to preschool. In my household I was surrounded by music, arts and crafts. My mother and aunts did quill work, weavings, and bead work. My mother, Amy Bright Wings, was always creative. People would leave things for her to finish. We had craft tables, beads, designs all around my environment. But art was vague back then. Montana is quite isolated and my vision was just to create art, not be an artist. I didn’t even know what an artist was. I knew I was in an art world, but I didn’t attain to be an artist.”
   In 1962, Red Star was chosen to attend a fledging art school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Newly created, the Institute of American Indian Arts was just beginning to nurture and sustain its scores of artists experimenting with a variety of artistic expression: theater, pottery, music, painting, dance. “ There was a lot of exciting art happening around me and we were all (that first group of students) a part of that. We were introduced to art trends of every nationality and of every medium. In addition to that, I rediscovered my own culture. I restudied the Crow culture and learned to compare and contrast tribal designs, to look for the diff erences. There ’s a vast difference in tribal groups among the Plains Indians and I learned to implement that into my art . I compared designs that I saw on pottery, weavings, and fabrics. I explore d every tribal expression.”
   To bring a living spirit to his paintings that depict tribal people in the 19th century, Red Star photographs people at the many gatherings and dances he attends. Later, he sifts through these photos and culls from them unique expressions and demeanors he uses on the faces he paints. “I photograph faces, images, and settings,” he explains, “and bring them back home. It’s a personal type of investigation.”
   Red Star often travels to local and regional schools, sharing his art and stories with young people. “The importance of art is universal,” he tells them. “Art encompasses music, theater, everything. Everything that moves has a beat and all art is interrelated and connected. Art is sending a message, a story and documentation of your environment. I try to instill in young people the importance of education and how it will help them get their message out. I tell them to stay in school and be diligent about what they’re producing. They need to be aware of the products they use, whether it’s oil paints or watercolors. Eventually you must have formal training in the arts and learn to stay with a project. When I bring people to my studio I tell them, “This is where the messy stuff starts. This is where the primary thing happens. It’s not what you see in the beautiful galleries. I work hard here.”
   Red Star’s work has been shown in Paris at the Pierre Cardin gallery, in Tokyo and throughout the United States. Humble and self-effacing about his work, Red Star imbues each painting with meticulous and continuous study and a deep-felt belief that “You must live your art and your heart must be in it.”

Barbara Sorensen is senior editor for Winds of Change magazine.