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Untitled #1226

By: Star Wallowing Bull

In Untitled #1226, the subject, as described by Wallowing Bull, is “an Indian warrior posing with a shield and weapons.” The subject came out of Wallowing Bull’s contemplation of early photographs of Native Americans in which they were sitting very still, as was the requirement in early photographic processes, and therefore, the Native men did not appear lively or animated. The warrior in Untitled #1226 is certainly a contrast to those in the photos that Wallowing Bull speaks about. In the geometric shapes that constellate to form the modernized warrior figure, an intense animation appears and gives energy and life to the subject.

Regarding additional imagery, the traditional warrior headdress is replaced with the points of a star in a semi-circular shape. Wallowing Bull often includes references to himself and to his name, Star, in his works, and this symbolism personalizes this dramatic prima-color pencil drawing. These inclusions chronicle and symbolize the personal and artistic transformations of the artist. The abstracted weapons in the drawing appear toy-like instead of real. Another major childhood influence in Wallowing Bull’s art is his experience playing with toy transformers and robots. The shifting planes of the shapes in his dancing and stationary figures resemble the three-dimensional plane-shifting elements in his much-loved childhood companions.

In the majority of Wallowing Bull's images, a combination of Native and Western concepts and approaches fuse to form a substantive, dual-cultural whole. According to Wallowing Bull, Untitled #1225 and Untitled #1226 –the drawings in the MSCTC—Moorhead collection—are important, 'turning point' works in which he consciously moves away from the reliance on the realistic portrayal of his subjects.