Tom Jones (Professor of Photography, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an artist, curator and educator. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Photography and a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois. Jones’ artwork is a commentary on identity, culture appropriation, experience and perception of Native America. He continues to work on an ongoing photographic essay on the contemporary life of his tribe, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Jones co-authored the book “People of the Big Voice, Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1943.” He is the co-curator for the exhibition and contributing author to the book, “For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw” for the National Museum of the American Indian. He recently curated a show on Ho-Chunk baskets for the Museum of Wisconsin Art. His artwork is in numerous private and public collections, most notably: National Gallery of Art, National Museum of the American Indian, Sprint Corporation, Minneapolis Institute of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Library of Congress, and Microsoft.
Tom Jones
Statement
“Strong Unrelenting Spirits” is body of work rooted in Ho-Chunk identity. For the past 28 years, I have been working on an ongoing photographic series on the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. First and foremost, I am ever mindful of my responsibility to my tribe and want to visually convey the resilience of my people. Through the use of portraiture, I am giving both the tribe and the outside world a perspective from someone who comes from within the Ho-Chunk community.
A pivotal childhood memory informs this work. When I was in third grade, I went with my mother to see the Sioux medicine man Robert Stead on the Rosebud reservation for a healing ceremony. We sat on the floor along the walls with many other people, when the lights were turned off the women started to sing. They were asking for the spirits to come in, it was at this time that small orbs of light began to float around the room. I am visually representing this experience through beading Ho-Chunk floral designs directly onto the photograph, symbolizing our ancestors who are constantly watching over us. Celebrating the pride, strength and beauty of my people I am expanding the conversation of portraiture in mainstream art, offering visibility to a nation often overlooked in popular culture.
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