When I began to collect the images in The Collection of Indigenous American Art , I had little knowledge of the magnitude of the art form that I was studying. I had learned of the cultural habit from class mates while in college. I was told that the American Indians were extremely fine stone carvers and print makers ,and that they worked beautifully in miniature fore mats.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to observe many examples of American Indian stone craft. Most of these works were smaller than 3 inches in diameter. My standard documentary proof is created on a page 2.125 inches by 2.75 inches. I would point out that this is smaller than a standard playing card.

Images of human faces dominate as subject matter, occasionally animals are seen, these images may represent mask or face paintings. It is interesting to note that many of the faces are very modern in appearance, and that some works represent Europeans and African people.

Artist do not always have a purpose in mind when they create art, however in this case I was told that these objects were used as money, that in fact this art form is the source of the custom of imprinting a human face on coins and notes. We should take note here that if this is true the American Indians engraved each piece individually.

What I have written here is as it was explained to me by various people, It is most probably correct and factual information, however I will ,to be honest and on the safe side, say that it is the opinion of layman.

Look carefully! Use zoom and rotation. Old, Rare, and so Beautiful!

Do You like modern graphic art? So do I. I'm talking about Intaglio, and Lithography and methods like Serigraph and Wood Cut. I would suggest that a through knowledge of these basic printing processes is probably a prerequisite for understanding the material posted on this blog site.

I do not know when or where the American Indian Nations began to carve stones. Likewise ,I do not know about their printing methods either. This is an important point, I am producing the artist proofs from their stone works, it may not have been their intended purpose. I will let you judge that for yourself. I think that however, you will agree that there are interesting images produced in this process.

It is important to remember that the stones that produced these proofs have been exposed to the environmental conditions unprotected for hundreds of years. The proofs were produced as rubbings using a black Crayola Crayon as medium. The paper used was common 20# ink jet printer paper.

I see groups of faces in this print. Some are quite well conceived. This is the most common motif. Often smaller faces will combine to form a larger face when viewed from a greater distance. Multiple viewpoint is also very common in the art of indigenous people in both north and south America, this is to say that they saw their art as having no top or bottom, no right or left sides and therefore no corners.

As I stated in the first paragraph of this writing, I am interested in modern and post-modern graphic art and photography. I find wonderful inspiration in the study of these fine images. For me it represents the root of our post-modern graphic art. There are many prints to display, we will view new subjects in each posting.

Welcome, to the Collection of Indigenous American Art

     Hello, my name is Larry McCarty. For sometime, I have been searching the surfaces of local stones looking for rare art works. I have found some. It will be my intention to exhibit and discuss these works on this blog post. I hope that You will join me.