One Tract Mind: Baskets by Gerald Clarke
Gerald Clarke is a member of the Cahuilla band of Indians. He is not only an artist, but a cattle rancher, teacher, and traditional singer. He uses his art to spread awareness about the challenges Native American communities still face. One Tract Mind: Baskets is a commentary on the loss of native homeland. The traditional woven baskets underneath a sea of roofs in Temecula, Riverside County, CA, represent the countless cultural items lost because of land development. The strong graphic tie between the baskets and the roof tiles, though, might point to the persistence and survival of traditional culture. Clarke’s work is never one-dimensional and asks us to consider multiple levels of meaning. He explains, “My ultimate goal as an artist is for my work to have a meaningful interaction with the viewer.”