Shapeshifting | Transformations in Native American Art

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• sharpness and edge; threat, power, act of mercy, trust, potential betrayal; a blade is like a gun, deus ex machina with demonic purpose--or else--a warrior's purpose, perhaps a hero's tragic reckoning; toledo steel; clovis spearpoint; an entanglement of hands, desires, reckonings; signs of the spirit; reminders of mortality, of the body's boundaries.
  May 21 5:40 pm
• The man [Pat Pruitt] is original, thoughtful, ingenius and he himself is the greatest influence upon his majestic work. Each item is greater than the sum of its parts, more than merely tribal, a tribute to his well-integrated education. The artist is able to make a order out of chaos!
  Mar 20 1:05 pm
• I see the ancient and the modern in a dance of the timeless.
  Mar 02 1:23 pm
• I also see lots of fiery designs, flames dancing in the jewelry.
  Feb 25 3:27 pm
• Reminds me a bit of octopus tentacles, with a centipede body and a sort of cyberpunk metallic feel. Very interesting.
  Feb 25 2:39 pm
• It's interesting that this piece evokes so many different traditions from both artist and viewers (everything from ancient Egypt to Marcel DuChamp was cited). Fantastic blend of history and modern methods.
  Feb 03 4:03 pm
• The piece seems to exemplify a larger desire to emphasize our heads, as they are our thinking centers and also our "face to the world." That seems a universal desire/urge so Pat's use of it here highlights the universality of modern native work.
  Feb 01 4:01 pm
• Modern tech, design, and scenes influence a native artist. Interesting. A friend who is a fraction of a fraction native blood is also into cad design and a mechanical engineer.
  Jan 31 2:51 pm
• There is a goodly amount of industrial influence; machining and practicality, the feeling that the piece has a useful function.
  Jan 29 3:43 pm
• The sensation of water moving with the wave-like curves of metal
  Jan 29 2:17 pm
• I see incredibly promenent in his work the essence of fire
  Jan 29 2:17 pm
• Defensive quills, like a porcupine
  Jan 25 4:46 pm
• It looks kind of like a beautified centipede.
  Jan 16 11:18 am
• Elizabethan and Jacobian English styling.
  Jan 15 1:01 pm
• I love this piece. I immediately think of Marcel Duchamp. And perhaps the Surrealists.
  Jan 06 4:02 pm
• I really like this piece, and where he originally got the idea from, a flexible tube that is used in building houses. I agree with the artist that it is not the what we call traditional Indian work, which I think is manufactured to please the tourists. Not traditional, not static thank God!
  I can see influences of Celtic art, the torques worn. and the tattoos and body piercing as he mentioned in the interview. I can also see a echo of the natural world. Branching out from the trunk, new shoots growing. Thank you for making me think about art!
  Oct 05 2:07 pm
• WOW! When I first saw this it reminded me of a Celtic Torc...and also of a slave collar...it looks scary, reminds me of a centipede...hearing from the artist Pruitt that one might not be able to hug a person wearing it makes me think that it's a "boundary keeping" piece of armor....would it stop women from being raped if they wore these around their necks, and a companion piece around their waists
  Apr 26 3:25 am
• Native people building steel skyscrapers in NYC . Some of the explosive energy in the jewelry makes me think of uranium deposits found on Navajo land, sharp, poisonous And deadly.
  Apr 24 12:03 pm
• It's like a party of fire
  Apr 19 2:36 pm
• I saw certain aspects that made me think of the thorns of the rose. It's not often that aspect of the flower is exemplified.
  Apr 15 3:49 pm
• Maybe automotive technology and human or animal bones.
  Apr 15 1:55 pm
• We saw spikes and flames. I wonder if he was influenced by the armor from knights?
  Apr 07 12:21 pm
• Fishing
  Technology
  Stereotypes
  Badges
  Honor
  Reflection
  Mar 25 2:44 pm
• Art and science of engineering, metalwork, nature and humanity.
  Mar 22 2:52 pm
• Harley Native!
  Mar 16 3:52 pm
• Defensiveness. A feel that he wants you not to get too close. Could this be the reason for the sharp points in his work?
  Feb 22 1:16 pm
• Nature, like the branches of a tree in the first necklace he showed us in the video. And knives could also be sticking out of the sides, but they could also be tree branches.
  Feb 22 10:49 am
• It looks a little bit like a leaf. It really demonstrates a lot of nature as well as machinery in its complicated design.
  Feb 21 10:28 am
• Modern horror, avant garde, a Tim Burtonesque beauty.
  Feb 18 1:54 pm
• Connections to the mechanized world, transforming it into something almost ethereal and pulling influences from as far back as ancient Egypt and as new as bringing metal to life.
  Feb 17 2:19 pm
• Inspiring blend of creativity with conventional education in engineering. A sign of the current culture where artists blend skills of creativity, mathematics, science, and identity.
  Feb 12 11:16 am
• It feels more New Age/Steampunk than Native- the arbitrary label of Native art based on his heritage is misleading.
  Feb 05 3:32 pm
• I see beauty and perservierence. It looks goth or biker. It has a flare to it with an ancient feel.
  Feb 05 11:39 am
• I see the influences of ancient metalworking. This was created by the Romans.
  Feb 05 11:36 am
• Fire - Geometry - Patterns - Torture devices - Life
  Feb 03 12:17 pm
• Bold, stylized, modern, generational, one world many visions
  Jan 29 3:31 pm
• Middle-ages inspired chainmail techniques.
  Jan 29 2:38 pm
• Passion for metalwork and motorcycles.
  Jan 27 12:32 pm
• Squash blossoms
  Jan 22 10:54 am
• An animosity, challenging and literally distancing the viewer. Porcupine defenses.
  Jan 21 1:46 pm
• Biker chic!
  Jan 20 3:25 pm
• Cyberpunk
  Jan 20 1:51 pm
• It is a part of him but that is not all that he is creating. He ties in such a lovely aspect of modern technology and visuals from his present physical life.
  Jan 20 11:30 am
• Machine-age design.
  Jan 19 3:45 pm
• Custom cars
  Jan 19 2:22 pm
• Eyelashes and the sun dancing on white sand
  Jan 19 1:08 pm
• Tattoos and Egyptian statues.
  Jan 16 2:37 pm
• Some sort of futuristic device
  Jan 15 2:51 pm
• I see the influences of tattoo art as mentioned by Pruitt.
  Jan 15 2:48 pm
• Modern technology, but it is still created by him, so still native art. I am intrigued by the sharpness and what that may say about the artist, or is it about his culture?
  Jan 15 1:42 pm
• It reminds me of shark teeth and a crab claw
  Jan 15 12:29 pm
• Almost royal...and a true symbol of purity...
  Jan 14 3:37 pm
• Fluidly aggressive by appearance, but nestles in the imagination with weight & warmth against the neckline.
  Jan 14 3:34 pm
• I see the influences that he has faced on the quest we call an accepting life style.
  Jan 14 2:09 pm
• Klingon batliths.
  Jan 12 7:58 pm
• Manifest destiny.
  Jan 12 1:22 pm
• Neptune's trident.
  Jan 11 1:14 pm
• Nordic/Scandinavian.
  Jan 11 1:13 pm
• There is something menacing about this piece that I love. I see all kinds of subculture as an influence.
  Jan 10 10:20 am
• I love the appropriation of an industrial object. It reminds me of some of the work of the Bauhaus. I am particularly thinking about the Gropius House in Lincoln, MA.
  Jan 06 4:00 pm
• It reminds me of traditional bear claw necklaces.
  Jan 06 3:54 pm
• This reminds me of the bear claw necklaces worn by Pawnee and other tribes - it has that same sense of being a living thing, but its contemporary edgy quality transforms it into a metaphorical work of art!
  Oct 14 6:56 pm
• Tattoo, fire, antlers, Klingon.
  Apr 27 1:23 pm
• Bones in the desert.
  Apr 27 1:08 pm
• When viewing Pruitt's work, I see the influences of modern life and fashion - combining forms of history with the ability of science to create new designs and the use of newer materials.
  Apr 24 11:14 am
• Modern architecture and autos of the 30's & 40's!
  Apr 20 3:42 pm
• It's industrial. A little bit Asian. The tines remind me of dinosaur bones.
  Apr 20 2:12 pm
• Snakes, a sort of centipede, and water curving and flowing.
  Apr 19 12:03 pm
• I see an upsidedown porcupine rainbow.
  Apr 14 12:08 pm
• nordic, ice skates and reindeer. teeth
  Apr 10 8:52 pm
• Antlers, motorcycle, fire, thorny vine.
  Apr 07 4:21 pm
• Alien costumes and make-up from the world of science fiction
  Apr 07 1:57 pm
• 1970's metal.
  Apr 07 12:32 pm
• El movimiento y el ambientalismo. Un esfuerzo artístico que combina los metales con la inspiración del pasado.
  Mar 31 1:01 pm
• There is a real strength in this work; not only does it have the inherent power of metal, the shapes are dynamic and strong. It's gorgeous.
  Mar 28 3:42 pm
• Authenticity, Brilliance, Transparency, Light, Love.
  Mar 24 12:07 pm
• Feminine and fierce. I wonder how I would feel with it on ...
  Mar 22 1:02 am
• Defensive quills, like fire.
  Mar 18 3:40 pm
• Fantasy shapes related to science fiction movie costumes.
  Mar 18 12:15 pm
• Fire.
  Mar 17 11:23 am
• I see bird talons and sundaes.
  Mar 15 3:39 pm
• Aggressive, defensive, unapproachable. If it were not jewelry, it might have a different response.
  Mar 13 7:19 am
• Natural world
  Fire
  Wind
  Water
  Energy of spirit
  Air
  Mar 06 3:35 pm
• His origin and culture of who he is as a person, and how he sees his culture.
  Mar 06 1:13 pm
• Evolving, spiraling, elegant evocations!
  Mar 02 2:45 pm
• armory and knives
  Feb 24 12:34 pm
• The artwork is a mix of modern and Native American artwork. It is very interesting how he combines the two!
  Feb 22 12:38 pm
• I think it looks like a porcupine rainbow.
  It is very pretty!
  Feb 21 3:30 pm
• Pat's work has an elegance and ruggedness to it and I see the strong influence of high-end industrial design and subculture fetishism.
  Feb 20 11:12 pm
• It was amazing to me just how many of the pieces actually looked like an animal; for instance, this necklace looks as though it was inspired by a centipede!
  Feb 20 4:09 pm
• Porcupine black
  Noble costume
  Feb 20 12:37 pm
• Sort of a really animalesque (is that a word...?) approach along with the tribal twist.
  Feb 20 11:35 am
• I think it looks modern and old at the same time (In a good way) the spiky things look like deer antlers
  Feb 19 3:26 pm
• Curved and edgy
  Evokes industrial work and craftsmanship
  Feb 19 11:19 am
• Aggressive, yet feathery and airy
  Hypnotic flow the unyielding, yields
  Feb 18 3:36 pm
• New life and expression for construction materials, comfortable for the wearer, maybe not so comfortable for the wearers company... Fangs and claws essentially.
  Feb 17 3:33 pm
• I see pop culture and youthful use of color in the modern material. Very strong and aggressive designs
  Feb 12 11:48 am
• Cold blue steel, warm energy
  Feb 12 11:04 am
• Paul Revere
  Feb 11 11:07 am
• Anger, rebellion, punk!
  Feb 09 2:32 pm