Analysis Of Jaune Quick-To See Smith

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Jaune Quick-to-see Smith is an instrumental and influential modern day artist due to her Native American Background, her medium, and her vision. Her piece Indian Country Today is one that represents who she is as an artist as well as where she came from and where she hopes her people will go. Throughout her life, Quick-to-see Smith overcame racism and oppression from within her community and from outside of it, while connecting with her familial artistic past to become the artist she is today. Her work Indian Country Today is an influential piece stemming from her people’s history, current situation within the United States, as well as her hopes for the future of her people. This piece is dramatic and captivating, creating a sense of unity within the Native American community while acknowledging that these nations continue to be unrecognized by the larger American community, something Quick-to-see Smith feels needs to be remedied. Quick-to-see Smith was born in 1940 on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Reservation in Montana. She and her sister were abandoned by their mother when they were young, forcing them to move in with their father who was a well known horse trainer and trader. Her family had very little and she was sent to work on a farm when she was eight to help earn an income for them. Eventually, she was put into foster homes and faced discrimination in public schools from both teachers and students based on her ethnic origin. School, however, was where she was first introduced to art. She was also inspired by the stories her father used to tell her about her ancestors like her great grandmother, who was an amazing bead worker. From these stories, Quick-to-see Smith began to develop her artistic ability. She attend... ... middle of paper ... ...e meaning behind the lack of lines. Jaune Quick-to-see Smith and her artwork has been instrumental and influential in the twentieth century due to her background, her work as an artist, and her vision for the future of her people. Her background gave her the foundations to become an amazing artist through her struggle of being placed in foster homes, dealing with racism in school, and not being able to connect culturally with her family. Her painting Indian Country Today is an amazing piece, which draws from her life experiences and argues for community and continuity among the residents of the U.S. This piece is captivating and inspiring to those who view it, Native or American, and hopefully it will inspire those who view it to live more culturally understanding lives so that we may one day live in a country that does not discriminate based on where you come from.

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