Yatika Starr Fields

In his graffiti pieces, Fields uses distinctive approaches (lines, movement, layering), which differentiates him from other painters.[1] He then graduated from high school and attended the Art Institute of Boston from 2001 to 2004. During these years, he continued to paint, and he began to work on large murals. This was where he developed his interest in graffiti art. “Graffiti is very confrontational This was me rebelling against the western idea of fine art. It was me finding another new voice and new style and rejecting everything I had just learned (in college),” says Fields adding that his graffiti work added to his ability to work large-scale and use full body motion are skills that he continues to utilize when creating large murals in front of an audience: “It’s almost choreographed, like you’re putting on a performance.”[4]

The use of strong and vibrant colours in his pieces portray the diverse groups of Indigenous people. Through Yatika’s artworks, he encourages individuals to have an enhanced understanding on indigenous culture because of the way they are misrepresented in society. He paints his large murals in Indigenous areas and in places that aren’t as wealthy. He creates his art in these communities because he wants to brighten these sites with bold colours in order to show the beauty of that specific place.

Fields wants to give back to the community he came from. “I think I’ve only really seen that in the last five years - I’m at an age now that it’s my turn to do that,” says Fields. “In your twenties you're still relying on mentors and older artists, but then you get to a point that you say ‘Oh, I’m that artist now.’ It’s in my nature to give back and I’m happy that it’s there. Any young artist, especially Native artists, as long as they’re doing it right - right meaning challenging the perception of the work and working with their community - I want to help because I’ve been fortunate to get where I am today through the help of others.”[4]

Fields was at Standing Rock in 2016 when he joined the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters at the Dakota Access Pipeline, a major event in his life as an activist. Fields says being a part of the protests significantly shifted the content of his artwork and how he perceives his responsibility not only as an artist. “My dad was at Alcatraz and we had family friends at Wounded Knee, so I’ve always known about Native American occupations and the politics of the United States,” said Fields. “There was an opportunity to go, not just as a spectator, but to be a believer for who we are as a people and to fight for our rights just like my ancestors did. It was very powerful.”[4]

Fields is working with his mother (Fiber Artist Anita Fields) to create a community engagement project titled “War Club" which will focus on Oklahoma Indigenous activism from the late 1960s to present day. “As a Native, we are political just by being alive and existing,” says Fields. “I’m an artist, I’m an image maker and thinker. I want my work to be with dialogue to make you think about things. Maybe we can find a solution through these works. I’m not for sure, but it’s worth trying, and we have to do it together.”[4]

In 2017, Yatika Starr Fields took part in a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline (#NODAPL), which involved an oil pipeline running through rivers near the Standing Rock reservation. The Standing Rock tribe saw this as an issue because it could have harmed their indigenous land containing ancestral burial grounds.[5] He showed his involvement in the protest through his art. This oil on canvas artwork is divided into three sections that illustrate different elements. The sunrise and sunset are painted on the top and lower half of the painting to indicate the time the ceremony took place.[5] In the centre, there are three women marching on the street, wearing a long skirt or dress with winter boots. The shawl that is worn over the women’s clothes is a symbol for the White Buffalo Calf Woman.[1] Yatika Fields painted this piece to show his support for the women protesting and standing up for the Standing Rock tribes.

An oil on canvas painted by Yatika Fields in 2017 portrays the hardships of protecting Indigenous land.[6] There are many vibrant colours that was used in this piece. In 2016, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish indigenous people and two Sami women were leaving the Oceti Sakowin. This was a camp resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline where indigenous people would stand up for their rights against government oppression.[7] The two indigenous individuals in the painting are wearing gákti which is a traditional item of clothing. The gákti is worn during ceremonies that are "characterized by bands of contrasting colors, a high collar embroidery and tin art"[7] Yatika Fields captured this moment to illustrate the realities of indigenous people.

This is an oil on canvas, painted in 2008.[7] Through this piece, Yatika Fields tried to imagine a world where bees were extinct. Thus, he wanted to show the global issue of the decline in bee population.[8] He added elements of nature while using bright and bold colours.

Pickens Museum commissioned a mural by Osage Artist Yatika Starr Fields in the Cultural Engagement Center at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa in 2020.

In 2021 Pickens Museum commissioned a 20 foot by 60 foot mural by Osage Artist Yatika Starr Fields in the Cultural Engagement Center at Northern Oklahoma College. The CEC opened in 2017 and includes contemporary learning spaces where students, faculty, and/or tribal leaders can meet; individual study or collaborative projects can be conducted; culture-based learning activities and community/cultural events can be provided; professional development can be held; and small group or individual tutoring can occur.[9] Fields’ mural is alive with movement and filled with images that rely on vibrant colors and swirling patterns to show drums, beads, dancers, and horses. “When you dance, it’s always about movement and rhythm,” says Fields. “This is something that’s always been a part of my life. As any Native person knows who dances or participates in ceremonies, they understand that feeling of rhythm and place and movement.” That usage of movement and “swiftness” has since carried into his work, allowing it to flow from one end of the canvas to the other.[10]

“When (NOC President) Cheryl Evans said they were looking for an artist to paint a mural for the engagement center, I immediately recommended Yatika,” says Hugh Pickens, Executive Director of Pickens Museum adding that Pickens Museum already has ten paintings by Fields in its permanent collection. “Yatika was delighted to have the opportunity to paint a mural that will inspire Native American students at NOC.”[11]

Mural by Yatika Starr Fields in Pickens Learning Commons at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa.

In February 2021 Northern Oklahoma College signed an agreement to display art works from Pickens Museum on their Tonkawa campus. “This is an exciting opportunity for us to share our art and culture with the Northern Oklahoma College community," said Hugh Pickens, Executive Director of Pickens Museum. Phase One of the project included the display of “Fool’s Crow” by native artist C. J. Wells in the library entrance of the Vineyard Library Administration Building and "Apache Warrior" by Malvina Hoffman. “This collection of art will add to the cultural enhancement of the Library and Cultural Engagement Center on the NOC Tonkawa campus. We are grateful for friends such as the Pickens who have chosen to share their gifts with us," said NOC President Cheryl Evans.[12][13][14]

In August, 2022, Northern Oklahoma College announced the transformation of Vineyard Library into a contemporary Student Learning Commons named the Pickens Learning Commons, that includes two new permanent murals totaling 100’x20’ by artist Yatika Starr Fields, along with eighty art works from the Doctor Pickens Museum to be on long-term display. Fields already created two existing murals in the Cultural Engagement Center, commissioned by the Doctor Pickens Museum in November 2020 and completed in June 2021.[15]

Yatika Starr Fields' 100' x 20' mural in the Pickens Learning Commons includes several different scenes from Northern Oklahoma College including a woman looking through a microscope, show lambs, another woman looking through a stack of books, men in space looking through VR systems, NOC’s mascot, Mav the bull, the Roustabouts, and the different performing arts. "These all flow in a beautiful display of colors and an incredible show of knowledge."[16]

"War Club" by Yatika Starr Fields was acquired by Pickens Museum in 2022 joining another dozen paintings by Fields in its collection.

Pickens Museum has an extensive collection of over a dozen of Fields' paintings. Pickens Museum commissioned a 20' by 60' mural for the Cultural Engagement Center at Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) in Tonkawa in 2021 and also commissioned a 20' by 100' mural for Pickens Learning Commons at NOC in 2022.[43]