Conversation with Artist Frank Buffalo Hyde

Frank Buffalo Hyde

Frank Buffalo Hyde's approach to life and his work is refreshingly honest. In our interview he explains the multiple layers of his existence, growing up in two worlds, on and off the reservation, and how this opened his mind and amplified his awareness and reaction to American society and culture. This interview is truly a revealing and sincere look at the artist Frank Buffalo Hyde. I am proud to share his story with you.

"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." -Frank Buffalo Hyde

Here is the conversation with Frank Buffalo Hyde:

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Music featured on this podcast by the following artists: 2Pac, The Clash, DJ Krush, The Legendary Shack Shakers, Quannum MC's, Freddie Cruger and Guru.

Frank Buffalo Hyde at Modern West Fine Art Gallery 2014

More about the artist: 

Frank Buffalo Hyde traces his heritage to the Nez Perce and Onondaga people, Hyde is recognized for breaking through the boundaries commonly placed around what is considered Native American art. His work confronts stereotyping of culture and informs the viewer that they are participants in the conversation. He is defining himself as a Native American without being a stereotype and dealing with what he calls the "fragmented contemporary life" of a Native U.S. citizen. 

More about Frank Buffalo Hyde and his work on his Website. 

Follow Frank Buffalo Hyde on his Fan Page.

I-WITNESS CULTURE. FBH 2014 acrylic on canvas

Puck-Ficasso. FBH 2014 acrylic on canvas

Conversation with Filmmaker Sophie Rousmaniere

Interviewing Sophie Rousmaniere reminded me that we all could probably be doing a little more to help the world be a better place. Sophie lives to create positive change and to fight for social justice. Her films are only one small piece of the work she creates to educate and speak about issues plaguing global society. In this interview we learn about the experiences she and husband Jay Minton have had through various film projects, travel, fundraising and even their life on the road with punk rock band The Elected Officials. If you want to get inspired to be the change you wish to see, then listen in to this episode and hear how Sophie Rousmaniere keeps the inspiration fueled in every aspect of her life.

Here is the conversation with Sophie Rousmaniere:

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All music featured on this podcast is performed by Sophie's band, The Elected Officials.

More about the artist:

Sophie Rousmaniere has worked as a filmmaker and freelance journalist in the US, Canada, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala, Pakistan, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. She has produced, edited and directed over thirty documentaries, short films and music videos. Sophie’s work is largely social issue based, having worked on topics from child prostitution in Thailand to environmental issues in the four corners area in New Mexico. Currently Rousmaniere is wrapping up a documentary slated for broadcast on PBS; “Yellow Fever – The Navajo Uranium Legacy”. She has also been busy working on her latest project, " Radio Taboo", a development project and documentary film about Issa Nyaphaga, an artist and activist returning to his small village Nditam, in Central Africa to build a community radio station to address human rights issues.

Learn more about the work of Sophie Rousmaniere at Iron Thorn Productions

Information on the film Yellow Fever

Information on the film Radio Taboo

Sophie Rousmaniere, Lead vocals for punk band The Elected Officials.

Sopie Rousmaniere and Hilda Bih. CRTV, Camaroon

Sophie Rousmaniere and Jay Minton on location for Radio Taboo.

Conversation with Artist Jamison Chas Banks

Jamison Chas Banks in his film Cibola.

Jamison Chas Banks born in Kansas, USA, is a dual citizen of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe, and the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma.

 "I have been an artist first and foremost since I first started thinking. I am also Native American. I live in this time, not in the past, I cannot make art that seeks to simulate my Native ancestors’ work or designs....I would characterize my work as ‘Attempting to clean an American turkey with a J. Edgar Hoover vacuum cleaner.’ I seek to subvert histories and ‘re-codex’ the American imperial sphere.”-Banks

The work of Jamison Chas Banks incorporates pop culture and indigenous iconography with military and political propaganda. He tackles intense historical tragedy with an urgency and irony that implores the viewer to focus in and think, to look deeper than what was taught, further than what we are told to hold as historical truths. Banks works in all mediums, and seems to use whatever tools necessary to convey his vision, from film to printmaking, from the canvas to massive mural work, there are no limits for this inspiring, activism based indigenous artist.

Here is the conversation with Jamison Chas Banks:

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End track featured on this podcast titled 'Fratres for Eight Cellos' by I Fiamminghi & Rudolf Werthen.

Red Scare, Blue Venom. Acrylic serigraph on paper. Edition of 60. Jamison Chas Banks, 2014

More about the Artist: 

Artist Jamison Chas Banks takes on symbols and turns them on their heads. He readily admits, “My art incorporates a multitude of symbols. In the end, everything can be maintained as a symbol. I often advance my own imagined personae into representing some other idea or thing, in that, the personae become symbols.” He goes on to assert that “symbols have continued to define and enrich cultures and traditions.” The Cherokee/Seneca artist exudes a certain optimism when he talks about what he perceives as a time of change: “We stand headstrong into a new arena of symbols and mythos, this is a time of renaissance and renewal. It’s safe to assume that Banks is a part of this “renaissance” and that his work is tinged with a subversive hue. He states plainly, with a hint of sarcasm, “I would characterize my work as ‘Attempting to clean a American turkey with a J. Edgar Hoover vacuum cleaner.’ I seek to subvert histories and ‘re-codex’ the American imperial sphere.

Also prevalent in Banks’ work is a military motif that is highly contemporary and relevant--- while acknowledging the tradition and importance of military service that span’s his family’s history. “Most men in my own family, have not only served in the military, but participated during active conflicts,” he explains. Yet, the paradoxical brilliance of his work comes through loud and clear: “patriotic fervor of World War II,” was preceded by harrowing boarding school experiences which literally tore families apart. 

When asked specifically what the word “tradition” conjures, Banks says without hesitation, “Tradition is a cycle of behavior or belief built up over generational lengths of time. Tradition can be seen as a colonial term, but so can ‘dog’ and ‘cat’ for that matter. I imagine now anything spoken in English can be seen as a colonial term. It’s a really loaded question because, I think, most art can be defined so differently, depending on who’s defining it. In my experience, there is nothing that can be absolute.”

-Barbara Ellen Sorensen, Tribal College Journal Vol. 25 No. 1 Fall

Follow Jamison Chas Banks on his blog.

Follow Banks' film work on Vimeo.

Conversation with Artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

Artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, mural collaboration with Artist Rebekah Tarin in Penasco, NM. 

I am so proud to present a conversation with artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski. A passionate activist and visionary, DeJesus Moleski possesses a positive, humble and gracious presence that is whole and rare. Her work is refreshing and unique, inviting the observer to engage further, to look deeper, to feel the warmth in the the color palate, and to further explore the integration of the various mediums she chooses. DeJesus Moleski invites collaboration and conversation through her art, asking the viewer into a complex dialogue threaded through her work. Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski focuses on futuristic femme myth as it relates to marginalized communities.  She primarily works in 2-D media and performance, and is based out of Oakland, CA. In this conversation we are able to further understand DeJesus Moleski's inspirations and share her process, unfolding how she developed her ability to balance beauty and activated resistance in such a precise and elegant manner. 

Here is the conversation with Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski:

Subscribe to Art Beat Conversations on iTunes and download this episode.

Music featured on this podcast, listed in order of appearance: Sylvio Rodriguez, Angel Haze, Immortal Technique, EDIT ft. The Grouch, REG ft. Medusa, Fernanadindo, Alice Russell, and ending track 'Revolution' by J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science/Lyrics Born/Mamaz.

'Instructions for a Storm'. Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

More about the Artist:

Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski was born in France but spent her life moving around the East Coast, Down South, and Midwest of the US.   DeJesus-Moleski has received awards and honors in the areas of visual art including the ArtLA Student Artist of the Year, All College Honors, and is an Alumni of the AICAD New York studio residency program.  Her work explores the tensions between private tenderness and public defiance, specifically within communities that are typically depicted as stressed and vulnerable.  She has been working with organizations such as the Brown Boi Project, Strong Families, Third Root Health Center, and the Estria Foundation among others.  DeJesus-Moleski has exhibited work in New York, LA, and the Bay Area.  She is currently working on a solo show called Thick Dig, which focuses on futuristic femme myth as it relates to marginalized communities.  DeJesus-Moleski aims to practice the integration of multiple art forms as a way to make myth and tell the truth. She is an experienced muralist, performance poet, playwright, youth organizer, and visual artist. She is the co-founder (along with Cynthia Ruffin and Jessie Workman) of the B.R.E.A.T.H (Building a Revolution of Expression through Heartwork) program in Albuquerque, NM that teaches poetry and performance to incarcerated youth as a means to heal, resolve conflict, and uplift.  Amaryllis has dedicated her life’s work to stand with countless others in the movement that intersects the arts with activism, using creativity and expression as the tools necessary for community liberation, and the means by which we may all realize our most potent dreams.

Learn more about Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski on her website.

"Thick Dig (Ghost Sighting)". Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

"Weave (for spell)". Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

Conversation with Activist and Artist Jesse Hazelip

'Feather Merchant' mixed media. Jesse Hazelip

It was truly inspiring to have a conversation with the profound and activated artist, Jesse Hazelip. A humble and very thoughtful human being, Hazelip seems so modest in his demeanor, yet is work, his focus and the dialogue he evokes is purely radical. He continues to ask questions, to force us to look further into the cracks of our society, the places and the people that many of us pass by and ignore. Hazelips larger than life wheat paste style, coupled with his 'all in' approach to his vision and cause, creates a place of awareness and pure motivation. He invites the observer to activate themselves and begin to ask questions about our society and its structure. 

'509th' mixed media. Jesse Hazelip

I am proud to invite you into the conversation with Jesse Hazelip on Episode 3 of ABC. 

Music  for this episode by CocoRosie

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Love Lock: Cycle Of Violence. Jesse Hazelip

More about the artist:

Jesse Hazelip was born in 1977 in Cortez, Colorado amidst Navajo and Ute Nation territory, where at a young age, he became acutely aware of the racism and classism of our Nation. At the age of 13, he relocated to Santa Barbara, CA. Shifting into this vastly different environment from his childhood, Hazelip became involved with graffiti, which has become the groundwork for his aesthetic and technique. His love for vandalism is rooted in the traditional sense of the act; where activism becomes ground level, unleashed for the masses to ingest alongside the ever present corporate billboards and consumer propaganda.  Hazelip is currently using the Gallery environment as his main venue for showing his work, but his message does not falter, he simply has the chance to reach another level of audience. Political activism continues to be a huge thread within his works and he is currently addressing the prison system and incarceration. Hazelip is currently based in New York and recently held an exhibition at the Jonathan Levine Gallery entitled, Love Lock: Cycle Of Violence, which addressed the inhumane prison conditions in America. His work with the issue of incarceration seems far from over, and I can only assume there are many more inspiring projects that Hazelip has yet to provide to us as inspiration on how to stay human. 

'Hole', Love Lock: Cycle of Violence. mixed media. Jesse Hazelip. Jonathan Levine Gallery.