Visual Language Magazine Contemporary Fine Art Vol 2 no 10 October 2013

VL
Studio Visit
Nocona Burgess
I am Comanche from Lawton Oklahoma. I am the great-great grandson of Chief Quanah
Parker and my father is also former chief of the Comanche tribe. Throughout my life I
have traveled around the country with my family. I have lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania;
Poplar, Montana; Phoenix, Arizona; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. We traveled a lot while
my parents were working on their degrees. Many opportunities allowed us to see and experience
much of the country and all the different kinds of people. That is what my parents
wanted to give to my brother and me to expand our thinking.
I have always been around art. My dad went to school for art and education and has always
painted and drawn. My maternal grandfather was an artist, as is my maternal grandmother
a quilt maker of her own designs. My great-grandmother who raised my father,
was an accomplished bead worker despite being blind. With all this art and all these artists
around me, I had no choice but to pursue art. It is in my blood.
In 1989, after a year at the University of Oklahoma, I decided to move to New Mexico,
where I stumbled upon the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe. I could
draw and had painted a bit. I was pretty good and, because of my family, more advanced
than most in my classes. At IAIA my art really took off. I had a good time and learned a lot
about Native art and how the traditional forms had evolved into more contemporary styles.
This is what really grabbed my attention. I had already known quite a bit about traditional
style. I grew up knowing people like Doc Tate Nevaquaya, Rance Hood, Allen Houser,
and reading about Oklahoma artists like Woody Crumbo and Kiowa 5. I liked the idea of
modern Indians; after all that’s who I am. I loved the old style, but it seemed so distant to
me. To this day I enjoy painting old portraits and traditional subjects, but in my own style.
In a way, when I paint them the subjects speak to me and I get to know them. After looking
at them over and over for hours, how can I not receive something from them My painting
is a way of saying thank you to them for all of their sacrifices.
In 1991, I graduated from IAIA with an Associate in Fine Arts degree. I then went on to
the University of New Mexico. I found myself questioning whether art was the way to go.
Could I make a living at it I knew some people did, but they always seemed the exception
to the rule. I continued on with my degree with an emphasis in both studio art and native
art history.
I began work at a bingo hall, soon to be a casino. This is when I started to drift away from
art. I got promoted and made my way into management. It was pretty cool and the money
was really nice; it felt good not to be a broke college student any more. From 1991 to
1996, I worked in the casino. My work schedule left no time for school and definitely no
time for art. I missed the art, but soon learned to live without it. I was successful and making
a good living.
In 1996, I decided the casino was not for me and I left. I needed a new start so I moved
back to Oklahoma. I got back in touch with my people and family. I needed to get back to
my art. It was 1997, and I hadn’t worked on any art for years. I enrolled at the University
of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) to work on my B.F.A. There I started taking
classes again and getting back into the flow. Art was back in my life.
http://www.eagleserpentstudios.com/
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Right: Quanah Parker - Quahada - Cheif, Warrior, Statesmen 80x68