This
autobiographical work reflects the artist's dreams and perspectives as a Comanche woman.
Pahdopony says,
"This work
is very contemporary but historic with traditional images. I like to break molds. Not all
Indian art is flat, and at one time we were very abstract."
Full of icons,
symbols and writings, the work contains early Comanche history of US government boarding
schools, life on reservations, and the celebration of life and survival.
Native Woman's Dreams: Autobiographic Tipi,
2003
digital iris print on canvas
edition of 99
30" x 40"
Earthbound is about
the differences between peoples, their cultures and their values (even among Native
American tribes.) The coyote serves as a metaphor for these differences, as it can be seen
as a "medicine brother" to one Native culture and a farm "pest" to
another. The artist wrote this poem to accompany the artwork:
Earthbound...
You descend from a people who
planted in the earth
corn, beans, squash, and sacred tobacco
Earthbound...
My people roamed the plains
hunted and gathered
food, on the earth
Earthbound...
You call yourself
that's what I've loved about you
as there've been times
when I've been close
to tearing off my layered skins
floating off in fragments
and you've found me
in tatters...
gathered me into bundles,
encircled me, calmed me, contained me,
and holding me in place with words,
gently tugged on the string
that tethered me to earth and you,
returned me, roots to earth again,
Earthbound...like you...
My head in the clouds
Earthbound…My Head in the Clouds, 1996
51" x 24", mixed media on masonite
"This
painting represents "all" Native American families although it has collage
memorabilia and motifs from the southern plains culture. It has a beaded scissor tail fan
with fringes, a replica of a buffalo hide, a rattle filled with tiny stones from a red ant
bed, a blanket with the popular "star" images that Comanche people are fond of;
and 6 photographs of a family--the daughter, mother grandfather, son, sisters, and uncles
and father. Although the photograph images represent different nations, we are still the
same people."
Native American Grave Protection and
Repatriation, 1996
24" x 36", mixed media on canvas
Collected
Mixing Medicines, 2001
18" x 24", oil pastel and acrylic
on canvas
"This mixed media work contains a contemporary Comanche map of Fort
Sill (where Comanches were ultimately moved after Quanah Parker brought the last of our
people into a reservation) and shows the stockade, the place where "horses" were
kept, the mountains, streams, etc. Our maps were not western in nature and had images that
looked curiously like aerial maps."
Pihnatukka Camp & Ft. Sill Horse Corral,
1996
24" x 48", mixed media on masonite
Comanche
folkloric stories often begin with "A long time ago when animals could
talk…" This painting commemorates those idyllic times.
When Animals Could Talk and
Comanche Women Could Fly, 1996
30" x 34", acrylic on canvas
Repatriation: Put Me Where They Will Not
Find Me, 1996, 24" x 48", acrylic on canvas
Native-American
Gallery
This
autobiographical work reflects the artist's dreams and perspectives as a Comanche woman.
Pahdopony says, 
Earthbound is about
the differences between peoples, their cultures and their values (even among Native
American tribes.) The coyote serves as a metaphor for these differences, as it can be seen
as a "medicine brother" to one Native culture and a farm "pest" to
another. The artist wrote this poem to accompany the artwork:
"This
painting represents "all" Native American families although it has collage
memorabilia and motifs from the southern plains culture. It has a beaded scissor tail fan
with fringes, a replica of a buffalo hide, a rattle filled with tiny stones from a red ant
bed, a blanket with the popular "star" images that Comanche people are fond of;
and 6 photographs of a family--the daughter, mother grandfather, son, sisters, and uncles
and father. Although the photograph images represent different nations, we are still the
same people."
"This mixed media work contains a contemporary Comanche map of Fort
Sill (where Comanches were ultimately moved after Quanah Parker brought the last of our
people into a reservation) and shows the stockade, the place where "horses" were
kept, the mountains, streams, etc. Our maps were not western in nature and had images that
looked curiously like aerial maps."
Comanche
folkloric stories often begin with "A long time ago when animals could
talk…" This painting commemorates those idyllic times.
Amit May Fine Arts