Crow Dance

Rick Bartow was a Vietnam veteran, a life-long musician and songwriter, and an enrolled member of the Mad River Band of Wiyot Indians. He created sculpture, painting, drawing, and prints over the course of his nearly 40-year career as an artist, and is considered one of the most important leaders in contemporary Native American art.

In this painting, Bartow combines a human form with a crow in a state of transformation. Metamorphosis, or transformation, is a central theme in Bartow’s work, which is reflected in his painting technique. The overlapping human and animal forms were achieved through repeated application, removal, and smudging of acrylic paints and graphite.