By some trick of the light my skin was darker
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Date
2016
Authors
Thomas, Phoenix
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Abstract
The thesis “By Some Trick of the Light my Skin was Darker” explores the driving forces of my work. The title refers to a kind of primal scene in my youth when I first entertained the tensions of being half-native and half-Caucasian. I realized that through a trick of the light caused by the refraction of water I could be native in spite of my white appearance. Using the discourses of colonialism, cultural appropriation, identity politics and an expanded notion of painting that verges on the practices of presentation and display I interrogate the problem of hybridity. I argue my practice of painting is an externalization or literalization of an internal tension that is constitutive of the self. Through stories and experiences of my life on and off the reservation, inside and outside the studio, through written prose and poetic repetition I hope to help viewers better understand the esoteric elements in my work.
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Keywords
Indigenous Art, Identity, Poetry