Page 37 - The NOISE November 2015

HONORING ANCESTRY THROUGH ART
Karen Clarkson honors her family history
in a new body of work, “A Choctaw Story
of Blood and Family.” CLAIR ANNA ROSE
STORY BY
After her morning cup of coffee Prescott Artist Karen Clarkson finds herself in front of the canvas, beginning each day where she left off the night before.
“The idea that I am only just going to ‘touch up’ something in passing never happens,” she shares. “I always get drawn in. And the idea I’m not going to get paint on my clothes never happens either. I always get paint on my clothes.”
If she wasn’t an artist, Ms. Clarkson isn’t sure what she would be. “My life as an adult has been a series of experiences, which come to life and make sense only after I sit down and take up my brush or pencil,” she reflects. “I have never known such peace as when I am creating — be it painting or drawing. I wake up in the morning and cannot wait to get back to what I was doing.”
Viewers often describe Ms. Clarkson’s paintings as “emotionally realistic,” and the artist agrees. “I strive to make it as unambiguous as possible,” she says. “In addition to painting portraits, I think I really enjoy painting ravens because they are such a departure for me. When I paint people I sometimes get so drawn into their persona. With ravens I can identify with their humanness but it is somehow different. They
always seem simply playful, noble or curious.”
“I feel incredibly fortunate to be at a point in my life when I
am able to create art on an ongoing basis,” Ms. Clarkson says. “The highest compliment I receive is when I am told my art has touched someone’s heart. I think as we all go through life we want only to be seen by others. I am fortunate that I am able to put myself into my art and sometimes also have it seen for what it is. It is my way to communicate what I am feeling and show myself for what I am. When someone sees this it is the most beautiful as well as the most humbling experience I can
think of.”
Growing up, Ms. Clarkson’s father worked as a pilot in the Navy, and her family never lived in any one place for more than three years. “After I married and had my own four children I also adopted a nomadic lifestyle,” she explains. “So I think I am not really from a certain geographical area as much as a state of mind or a way of life.” She has now lived in Arizona five years, which is the longest she has ever stayed in one place.
As a child, Ms. Clarkson had an interest in drawing. “I didn’t know it was art, I just remember I was more comfortable being by myself than being around other people,” she describes.
“When I was only a few years old I took a red crayon and drew a house with a chimney in my mother’s leather bound bible. It is one of the earliest memories I have. After my mother passed away I found her bible. It had been packed away all these years but it still had the three pages of red crayon drawings — one for each blank page.”
In grade school she became interested in drawing the human figure, and would draw her teachers during class — something she would get in trouble for. “I was drawing animated scenes of my teachers by using a small stack of
papers and planning out their movements,” she recalls. “When you flipped the paper everything came to life. But that also got me in trouble. I drew a picture of my teacher’s pants
falling down and was sent to the principal’s office.”
When Ms. Clarkson got married shortly after high school, her artistic pursuits were shelved for a time while she raised her four children. She kept creativity in her life, but couldn’t give it undivided attention.
With her children grown, the artist found herself with time to draw once again. She has never been to art school and taught herself how to draw by setting time aside each day to draw portraits from family photos. When a neighbor saw her drawings, she asked if Ms. Clarkson would do a portrait of her family, and soon she was doing portraits for all her neighbors. Her portraits transitioned into studies of Native Americans, using Edward Curtis photos as references.
Continuing to self-teach, Ms. Clarkson made a dramatic change in her artwork, by beginning to paint in color. She continued to study books of paintings by master artists, and read in depth about technique.
“Then came the ravens!” Ms. Clarkson says of her artistic evolution. “I really don’t even remember when I painted my first raven or why. It just happened one day and it literally took hold of me. Ravens need to have their portraits painted too, I decided. I suddenly became more aware of all the
ravens around me and started paying attention. I was in love with them.”
When painting ravens, Ms. Clarkson begins with the background, choosing a color scheme. “I like to use dark blues and grays for the raven’s feathers and sometimes orange or red for the eyes,” she expresses. “It depends too on whether they are adults or juveniles. Most people can readily identify with ravens and they do play a significant roll in Choctaw as well as other native legends.”
Through historical records Ms. Clarkson is striving to understand more about her Choctaw and Cherokee ancestors. “I am fortunate to have many old documents including marriage and birth certificates, commission interrogatories,
land allotments and personal photos,” she says. “It has become my mission to integrate these personal records with historical photos as a way of highlighting the issue of blood quantum.”
Looking deeper into her family heritage has inspired a new body of work. “A Choctaw Story of Blood and Family,” brings to light the effect of the Dawes Commission Rolls and blood quantum. “Blood Quantum is a complex issue, which arose from enforced enrollment in the late 1800s,” the painter explains to me. “In 1893 an act of Congress authorized the establishment of a commission to negotiate with each of the Five Civilized Tribes that would abolish their tribal governments and permit the allotment of land to individual tribal members. Henry Dawes was appointed chairman to what is commonly referred to as the Dawes Commission Rolls. Dawes met with no success and eventually proceeded with enrollment and allotment without consent. The Rolls made it necessary to list one’s percentage of Indian blood as well as other personal information.”
Many people, including Ms. Clarkson’s grandmother claimed the smallest percentage of Indian Blood Possible to still be eligible to own land. “The same tribes today use this same document as a way to determine blood quantum,” the artist tells me. “If you are not able to trace your lineage back to the Dawes Rolls you cannot become a member of the tribe. This is important because in today’s art world you must be an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe to call yourself a Native American artist. The point is that I and many others like me, have more native blood than we can prove because the Dawes Roll is the definitive record for the five civilized tribes. Why is this an issue? For many it’s an issue of identity. So much emphasis has been put on blood quantum that I feel it is necessary to point out what happened with my family as a way to fight back. I would suggest that what you give back to your tribe and how you honor your past is more important than your percentage of blood.”
Painted in front of the Dawes roll that shows his family’s enrollment is a portrait of her father. Ms. Clarkson tells me more about her father and her heritage. “Discovering my heritage has been a life-long journey,” she confides. “My father grew up in Texas during the Great Depression, the son of a white oil field worker and a Choctaw/Cherokee woman. When his father died he was barely one year old — a bad situation that left his mother with limited means. Fortunately for my father his aunt took him in and raised him as her own. Unfortunately neither she nor the family took in his Choctaw/ Cherokee mother. My father never would talk about her and I never did meet my grandmother Maggie or have the benefit of her teachings. Luckily I do have pictures of her and have heard stories from her cousin who still lives in Oklahoma.”
Ms. Clarkson has shown her work at the Phippen Museum Western Art Show, the Santa Fe Indian Market, The Prescott Indian Market, the Choctaw Nation Art Show in Oklahoma and the Yuma Arts Center this year alone. In 2016 she plans to attend the Heard Museum Show. Her art is on display currently at the Prescott Arts Gallery and in Sedona at the Great Southwest Gallery and Blue Elk Gallery. In 2013 her art was featured in Southwest Art, and the book Strokes of Genius 6: Value, Lights and Darks and in 2014 Art Journey: People. Clarksonart.com, facebook.com/clarksonart
| Clair Anna Rose has a rapport with ravens.
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