Saturday, August 21, 2010

Artist 28: Sam Two Bulls

Sam Two Bulls is a Lakota Sioux artist from South Dakota. I personally own 2 of his wood carvings, a spirit horse and a spirit bison. Two Bulls was born and raised on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. This is a very important location for the Lakota people, since it is only a short drive (30 minutes, which is close in South Dakota) from Wounded Knee. If you do not know what Wounded Knee is, look it up, read "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", or see the movie adaptation. Growing up is Pine Ridge has inevitably had a defining impact on his artwork and overall style. This is most evident in his color palette. In every one of his paintings or carvings he uses red, yellow, white, and black. These four colors are found in the Medicine Wheel and represent the 4 cardinal directions; yellow being East, red being South, black being West, and white being North.

And that's about all I know about Sam Two Bulls. He likes to remain a sort of enigma, which is very easy to do in a place where your nearest neighbor live 5 miles away. I do know that he does beautiful work in a traditional manner (even though he uses acrylics) and is proud of his heritage. Like Sam, I like drawing inspiration for the Earth and natural objects, while mixing them with symbolism.

"Bison"
sam two bulls,bison

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