Edward S. Curtis Gallery - North American Indian Photogravures and Photographs

A limited number of the rare, extraordinary photogravures of the North American Indian, preserved by photo historian Edward S. Curtis, now available for purchase.

Art and Artifacts

Hal BrightCloud

Biographical Statement

Is a biography what happens to one, or what one does? I am attempting to discover who I am so that what I do will be known as who I am. Pieces of graphic work, or crafts and sculptures, or words and movements, or ideas and trains of thought as things that I do. They are who I am. They are my art and my life. They are meditations and explorations. These are my biography.

I was born in Oklahoma, on the remains of the first reservation to the Native people during the middle of the tumultuous twentieth century. My father was English-American and my mother was Native American. I identify with my mother, grandmother, and with the Earth as strongly as I do with my father and post -industrial English-America. Our family moved to California in time to experience the revolutions of the sixties.

I emphasized Native ways in my self-education, as well as contemporary studies that went on to include Master's degrees in Mathematics and Linguistics. I teach the nature of these studies and enjoy showing students some of the things that I have come to know. My traditional heritage has allowed me to develop a sense of enlightenment in that I sometimes attempt to express things that transcend language. These become meditations that are beyond beyond, at the source of our being and the foundation of our purpose.

Art is like ritual because an experience can be known (to some degree) on demand by performance of the ritual or observation of the artwork. The experiences are complex compared to their catalysts, the ritual or artwork. While the art points at the experience, it points further below to the ground of experience. There we find beauty, or truth, or peace, or love, or being, or void, or consciousness, or joy. These are all good things for the Earth and I enjoy doing them. They are Who I am.

H. BrightCloud, 2004

Enjoy a quick tour of the
Edward S. Curtis Gallery.