Neal Ambrose-Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation of Montana) combines a range of imagery and media to create a complex reflection on current events. In “The (Tense) Present,” he demonstrates his technical skills, mixing painting, drawing, collage, and printmaking – including monotypes that measure over 10 feet long. His art references specific issues in the world today – including climate change, political and social upheaval, and Covid-19 – with cartoon cats, Marvin the Martian, Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek, and Joan Miró. He often includes references to Indigenous knowledge and stories, including images of bundles, canoes, trailer homes, and the Trickster figure Coyote. In Neal Ambrose-Smith’s visions, the present is overlaid with images from the past, since “we can only understand where we now are by understanding our cultural influences.”
