The faces in David Kanietakeron Fadden’s paintings grab you immediately, they are full of joy and kinetic energy. I was able to interview David at the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center in Onchiota, New York, where many of his paintings are currently on exhibit. David, who is an Akwesasne Mohawk and whose name Kanietakeron means Patches of Snow, helped me understand how attaining this skill to portray such emotion had been a process. He remembers the moment that he was leaving the Metropolitan Museum of art, and nearly out the door when he saw in one of the last rooms, a portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Although David had already been painting for many years, he felt that portraying expression and human anatomy were eluding him. When he saw the paint strokes, reflections of color on the skin, and softness of Franklin’s portrait at the Met, he described the moment as “jaw dropping,” and it inspired him to learn how to accomplish the same. For David, painting faces full of life and expression is fundamental to his art and evident in the work he has on exhibition at Six Nations.
Posts Tagged ‘Six Nations Museum’
Six Nations Indian Museum Campfire Stories
Don’t expect a typical museum experience at Onchiota’s Six Nations Indian Museum. Though there are glass-enclosed cases filled with old things, this is a museum that evolves with the living history of the Haudenosaunee, thanks to the Fadden family.
Founded in 1954 by Ray Fadden then passed to his son John, the tradition continues through the family of third-generation artist David Fadden. The Faddens continue to pursue Ray’s dream of providing people with an ongoing account of the Haudenosaunee (People of the Long House). » Continue Reading.
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