a: black ground two raccoons, one stands on his hind legs and holds to small doll figures and one lies on its back wearing jewelry and holding a pair of dead birds that have a tag with "Good Intentions" hanging on them; applique along bottom in copper, white and magenta pink b: black ground; female figure lying on her back wearing a red dress with a grey coyote standing on top of her with a bird on a string dangling from its mouth; applique along bottom in copper, white and magenta pink

%C2%A9 Julie Buffalohead %2F Courtesy of the artist and Bockley Gallery

White Savior Complex, 2019

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A woman in a burgundy dress lies on her back, with an attentive coyote standing on top of her. This paper cut-out woman is placed upon jet black paper with a ribbonwork design adorning the bottom. Ribbonwork, created with imported silk ribbons from Europe and stitched onto wool, is a unique art form created by women in Osage, Ponca, and other communities across the North American prairie.

To the left, a string connects the woman to two fat raccoons. One is comfortably lounging on his back; he wears a bear-claw necklace and holds ribbonwork in his paw. The other raccoon stands upright, grasping stick figures of the Lone Ranger, a hero of TV and movie westerns, and a well-groomed white woman holding a cell phone and clasping a fancy purse.

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Details
Title
White Savior Complex
Artist Life
(Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma), born 1972
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2020.2.1a,b
Curator Approved

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a: black ground two raccoons, one stands on his hind legs and holds to small doll figures and one lies on its back wearing jewelry and holding a pair of dead birds that have a tag with "Good Intentions" hanging on them; applique along bottom in copper, white and magenta pink b: black ground; female figure lying on her back wearing a red dress with a grey coyote standing on top of her with a bird on a string dangling from its mouth; applique along bottom in copper, white and magenta pink

© Julie Buffalohead / Courtesy of the artist and Bockley Gallery