About the ArtistThomas Poolaw is an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. He is a member of the Kiowa Gourd Clan, and is also the grandson of Horace Poolaw, a noted Kiowa photographer. The artist now resides in Norman, Oklahoma, and has lived there since 1977.
Poolaw is primarily known as a painter, but he also works in various two dimensional media. Since 2005, he has explored working with digital media. His work has been featured throughout the United States, in various group and traveling exhibitions. In addition, Poolaw's work is represented in the permanent collections of the Fred Jones Art Museum, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma; the Southern Plains indian Museum and Crafts Center, Anadarko, Oklahoma; the J.W. Bill Wiggins collection; and now the American Indian Institute at the University of Oklahoma.
Artist Statement
As a youth, I was heavily influenced during the late 1960's and 1970's by the American Indian artists of southwest Oklahoma, and by the photography of Horace Poolaw. In 1980, I entered art school at the University of Oklahoma. Since then I have been making acrylic paintings and more recently digital images.
Process is the focus of my work. I choose formats and situations that encourage spontaneity and experimentation. The journey must be exciting and inspiring. I want to produce something nearer to poetry than documentation.
My work usually deals with Native American subject matter expressed in a contemporary manner. It doesn't always have to, but that's who I am and where I come from. I hope the work reflects the status of today's Native American individual, that is complex, modern and spiritual.