The struggle of identity

PHOENIX, March 20, 2008

As the crowd peruses artists' booths at the Heard Museum art show, a few stop in their tracks to take a quick glance at Marcus Cadman's booth.

One woman stops with a look on her face, as if she is not sure what to think. She decides not to walk into the booth, but instead stays at a comfortable distance for a moment before walking away.

Cadman is used to her reaction. There's no arguing his paintings are different from the other artists at the market, and they often leave people unsure what to think.

The center of his pieces, Cadman says, revolve around one primary theme: identity.

He describes his own art as being "a little on the political side, a little whimsical," especially because they mix elements and symbols of Christianity and images of Navajo deities.

"I like to use symbols and metaphors, with speckles of what I know about the traditional world from what I learned from books and friends," he said.

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The 37-year-old artist was born and raised on the rez in Shiprock. But while he might have lived on the rez, he always felt there was a part of him that was incomplete.

"I wasn't raised traditional, I was raised through the church," said Cadman. "My dad was kind of traditional before his mom converted him to Christianity. He's been a Christian since I was a little kid. The paintings kind of speak to that."

Cadman began pursuing his artwork in 1992, enrolling in painting classes at Diné College. It took him five years to "find his niche," as he put it.

"I didn't start painting the style I wanted to paint until 1997," he said.

When he first began, Cadman attempted to paint images of nostalgic, peaceful landscapes.

"It didn't seem right," he said. "I felt empty inside about it. I had to find meaning to my art work."

He took some time for self-reflection and even went as far as painting an abstract self-portrait of himself. It was not a flattering piece but a "dark and haunting" one, Cadman said.

The painting is adorned with real dollar bills in a collage on one side with buckskin pieces on the other, and a U.S. flag waving prominently in the background. It is titled "Knows Not the Ancient Way."

"That's the one that broke through, that really spoke through about who I was, my identity," said Cadman. "It was me being not raised traditional I guess."

People reacted with gasps when they saw the painting saying things like, "What is that? That is scary!"

Cadman never sold the piece and has no intention to now.

"They're not used to seeing this kind of art," he said. "I try to paint what's going on today. It's not the typical historic romanticized images, I guess. It's much more personal and people can see that."

Some people have expressed disapproval of Cadman's use of real money in his paintings, telling him "the feds will get you." Some also are offended when they see pages from the Bible in some of his paintings.

"People seeing the Bible cut up was a major thing when I first started," said Cadman. "But then there were people who would urge me on and say keep going."

Most of his supportive comments are from married couples in their 30s who, Cadman is certain, must understand to some degree his struggling issue of identity.

Cadman is Kickpoo on his mother's side, and is Fish and Thunder Clan. His father is Tl'‡‡shch’'’ (Red Bottom Clan) and his paternal grandparents are Kinlich’i'nii (Red House Clan).

Cadman recalled stories his parents told him of the boarding school era when they were pushed into a Christian background while growing up in Kansas and Missouri, and how they were encouraged not to speak their language.

"My dad thought that teaching us our language would hurt us. That's the main reason he didn't teach us Navajo," said Cadman. "It's kind of the same story you hear, you know."

Cadman said his mother and father were active in the powwow circuit in the 1960s and 1970s before he was born, but they stopped when they moved to New Mexico. His older siblings are still heavily into powwows but it was not something Cadman was around.

"It would have been nice to get that part, to grow up that way," said Cadman. "It would have been cool."

At mid-career, Cadman still sees himself as the new guy.

"It's tough to go against older painters who have more of reputation and have been around," he said. "I'm kind of like a small fry."

Judy Coady, a curator and collector who owns Coady Contemporary in Santa Fe, disagrees. She recalled seeing Cadman's work several years ago before she opened her gallery.

"Here was a Navajo painter incorporating methods like that of Jasper Johns, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol," said Coady, a former curator at the Smithsonian Institution's American Art Museum .

"I just found his artwork really stunning," she said. "I quickly snapped up a painting and about five years later when I opened the gallery I looked him up and asked him if I could represent him as one of my artists."

Cadman's work has caught the attention of prominent national and international art collectors and some paintings are part of permanent collections.

"His use of mixed media, all these things are happening in non-Native work," she continued. "He's hip, he's with it. An easier road for him might have been what we call traditional, Southwest art. He has not gone that way, he is listening to his own voice."

Cadman will have a one-man show at Coady Contemporary (205 Canyon Rd.) during the Santa Fe Indian Market titled "Bingo!: Major Works by Marcus Cadman," from Aug. 10 through the 31st with a 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. opening reception on Aug. 10.

Information: www.marcuscadman.com or www.coadycontemporary.com.

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