Wildcat paints history and ideas, often by blending realistic portraits into an ideological landscape.  He paints large 
so that viewers will have to look closely at this moment of history, look into the faces of those whose life and fate he captures.

My goal in painting has always been to create art on a scale so epic, with themes so urgent that I can both portray and alter history.  One viewer, Dr. Calsoyas, experienced what I hope for in response to my paintings. He spoke when interviewed about The Strategy, in the Kansas City Star article by Joe Popper :

"I was astonished by his work.  I was literally in tears. I'd never seen such an insightful depiction of what Native Americans actually experienced as they confronted European culture.  The  life-size photographic realism is understated and dignified. ...and that makes it all the more jarring because Wayne has a way of juxtaposing some very disturbing images. "

One writer wrote about my one man retrospective exhibit: "Artists paints injustice, no matter what its color." She, an African American Woman, was amazed that I paint not merely Native American issues, but portray concern for the human condition, issues of all races. I cast a critical and inquiring eye at history, and at mankind in my paintings.  I choose people, dramas or moments of history that need to be looked at.  Hopefully, my dreamscapes will let the viewer feel the questions history poses, and sense the humanity or inhumanity of the actors in life's dramas. I paint portraits of Native Americans, portrayed realistically, as they were and are, in quiet dignity.

I feel I have important things to say, and so choose a monumental scale for many of my paintings. I paint in oil on canvas or linen, so these paintings will last. I offer a unique perspective in style and subject matter. I am half Native American my dad was full blooded Euchee) which informs my perspective, yet I paint with full consciousness and appreciation of the European tradition of the great masters.  I feel I am a messenger of my time. I paint history, often forgotten moments of history, lasting issues, fate dramas,  and scenes. I express my visions in narrative statements, in realistic style yet like a parable, to tease thought. I feel I am a messenger in my time. I paint history, often forgotten moments, people of history, lasting issues, and fate dramas.

Realistic portraits occupy metaphysical landscapes in my paintings.  The realism of each figure demands attention while the configuration of people demands thought.  Why are these people gathered here?  What bones are these?  By juxtaposing historically accurate and often familiar portraits or scenes, I ask the viewer to make an emotional and intellectual connection, which hopefully lifts the painting into the metaphysical realm.   I paint people, in dramas of their ideas, and history. My hope is that by combining such people or history into one painting that I can create a kind of critical mass in the viewer so that the emotional and intellectual impact of the painting will reach out powerfully and break through our consciousness. The painting may condense or collect our scattered, familiar images, so that they make sense in a new way of seeing  history or humanity, or fate. My paintings hopefully serve as a catalyst or thought; they offer a parable prompting the viewer to rethink the scene or the issue portrayed, whether it is Manifest Destiny, Custer's fate, Civil Rights, medical care or genocide.

I continue to paint and to exhibit eagerly. I paint individual portraits, historic and contemporary, as well as portraits within epic paintings. I am eager to speak about my art at exhibits, conferences, public art projects, artist in residencies, in conferences and educational forums. I have been nominated for "Who's Who in America" and "Contemporary Who's Who."

I have a body of work, painted alone in my studio. These I painted because I felt they needed to be painted, not because they were commissioned. Quest for Freedom (9ft x 30ft. Oil on canvas) will be on exhibit at the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin Texas, fall 2002, in conjunction with a Smithsonian Museum exhibit of photos, of the civil rights movement. Strategy and Ceremony have been exhibited at the State Capitol of Kansas, Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Kansas, and in numerous one man exhibits of my work. In Guam my art led to cultural talks of similar history of indigenous peoples.

In artist in residencies, I work with students and communities. The epic size paintings Central Time, Dream for Harmony, and Solidarity are visible evidence of the creativity these collaborations produced (1996-2001). A painting of the Underground Railroad is planned. Art serves as a catalyst for cultural transformation and new consciousness of their history, as they research and paint it in epic art.

As an artist/historian I mine history and faces from research libraries, forgotten texts, personal interviews, albums, and visits to sites. These inspire my imagination & inform my vision.    

   Wayne  Wildcat