FRANK BUFFALO HYDE

 

Frank Buffalo Hyde, a Southwestern born artist who traces his heritage to the Nez Perce and Onondaga people, has been recognized for breaking through the boundaries that many place around what they think Native American art should look like. He is defining himself as a Native American without being a stereotype dealing with what he calls the "fragmented contemporary life" of a Native U.S. citizen. 

 

Hyde grew up in central New York, and then returned to New Mexico to study at the Santa Fe Fine Arts Institute and the Institute of American Indian Arts. He's been exhibiting his work for over 15 years -- since he was 18 -- showing in many Santa Fe galleries as well as in Chicago, New York and San Francisco. Having established himself in the competitive Santa Fe art market, he felt comfortable moving away and keeping up his career there from a distance.

 

"When working on a piece, I tap into the universal mind. The collective unconsciousness of the 21st century. Drawing images from advertisement, movies, television, music and politics. Expressing observation, as well as knowledge through experience. Overlapping imagery to mimic the way the mind holds information: non linear and without separation. I don't need permission to make what I make. Never have...no artist should." - FBH