Framed and matted original mixed media.
23.5” x 15.5”
Parfleche, soft hide, beaded medallion with porcupine quill, antique brass conchos, and arrowheads
 
Artist’s Description:
 
“It is about the days when game was plenty and not wasted when killed for food we needed to survive. We traveled the four sacred directions and only killed to survive. After the need for food became great and scarce at the same time other paths were taken and provide for the masses. That’s when we ended up with processed food and a lot less paths traveled….”
 
In Bull Ghost (Winagi Tatanka), Jerry Fogg reflects on changing relationships with food, land, movement, and survival. The composition is organized around a central beaded medallion, with four sections radiating outward and creating a visual connection to Fogg’s reference to the four sacred directions. Arrowheads placed around the center further connect the work to hunting and the taking of game for sustenance.
 
For generations, animals such as buffalo provided far more than food. They supplied materials for clothing, shelter, tools, and other necessities, while harvested foods were preserved and used according to the needs of the community. Fogg’s description contrasts these direct relationships with the land with modern food systems, in which food travels through increasingly centralized systems and reaches us through very different paths.
 
The materials themselves reinforce these ideas. Parfleche and soft hide connect the work to Plains material traditions, while beadwork and porcupine quillwork demonstrate the craftsmanship carried into Fogg’s contemporary mixed-media practice. Antique brass conchos and arrowheads add additional historical and material elements to the composition.
 
Artist Jerry Fogg (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ Nakota), known for his “Foggma” mixed-media technique, brings traditional and contemporary materials together to explore Indigenous history and lived experience. In this work, he uses the imagery and materials of hunting, movement, and Plains lifeways to reflect on how the paths people travel to obtain food and sustain themselves have changed over time.