On Friday, February 24, “Native America: In Translation”
opened at the Milwaukee Art Museum featuring works by Ho-Chunk artist, Tom
Jones including the debut of “Bella Falcon” and a spotlight Sessions video
called “Strong Unrelenting Spirits.”
Tom Jones is a Professor of Photography at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. Jones is also a co-author on the book People of the Big Voice, Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles
Van Schaick, 1879-1943. He has artwork in the collections of the National
Museum of the American Indian, Polaroid Corporation, Sprint Corporation, The
Chazen Museum of Art, The Nerman Museum, and Microsoft.
Strong Unrelenting
Spirits features a series of portraits that are rooted in his Ho-Chunk
identity. The work includes photography while being incorporated with beadwork
onto photographs. According to Jones, “It represents that our people are being
looked over by our ancestors. I only use white beads because they represent
those spirits that are an aura around them. This piece ‘Bella Falcon’ is the
first time I represented those orbs.”
Jones photographs examine identity and geographic place with
an emphasis on the experience of American Indian communities.
“When I’m designing the piece, I generally look at what they
are wearing and try to incorporate that in,” said Jones.
“When I decided to do these orb designs, I was happy that
she had these circles on her dress that acted as orbs too. In her earrings, it
looks like a flower. I had these broaches that also mimicked that. I put the
larger rhinestones in the four directions. The design itself reminds me of
Sioux designs they use too. I like how that is mirroring where the inspiration
came from.”