Gerald Cournoyer

Gerald Cournoyer was born in 1966 in Wagner, South Dakota. Cournoyer is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Upon completion of High School Gerald enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. serving 4 years, and was Honorably Discharged in 1989. He received degrees from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico 1995. a Bachelor of Fine Arts 1998 from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, and a Master of Art at University of South Dakota in 1999. Gerald is currently working toward his Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

“My paintings are a reflection of my culture in the use of the geometric beadwork and quillwork designs. These designs were assigned with meaning when the person saw them in a dream or vision. The designs for me represent life on earth and the after life. We know when we pass on, our spirit will live in the after world. These two worlds are integrated and seen as one world. I feel the geometric designs reflect that when they are the same size and shape only with different color representing the two worlds….My ancestors used color in a deep spiritual manner. The use of color in my paintings is personal. I am using the complementary colors to represent the relationship of the two worlds. How we walk in balance. In addition to color, repetition is very important. When we sing songs at the purification lodge, vision quest or the Sun Dance, we sing them over and over bringing us closer to the Great Spirit. For me, painting is a meditative process. When Sun dancing, we are constantly look at the tree of life. We dance forward and touch the tree, dance backwards, but always looking at the tree. In painting, I do the same thing. I walk forward and touch the canvas, walk backward, always looking for the canvas to speak to me. When colors and shapes do not work out I can tell right away so I can go into the painting and change the image. When I add figurative elements, like birds, they become simply messengers. The animals tell us something, if we listen we can her what they say.”