Florida Indian with Scrub Jay
Theodore Morris
Florida Indian with Scrub Jay
2021
Oil on canvas
Image dimensions: 24 x 30 in.
Very good condition
Artist Statement for Theodore Morris
After finishing two years at the University of Wisconsin, and receiving a B.F.A. from the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota in 1973, I worked as a commercial artist in a advertising agency. This occupation turned out to be rather uninspiring and so I started pursuing interesting freelance design work. I designed book covers for the University of Wisconsin Press, Ohio State University Press, and a few other colleges and created drawings for an archaeological survey company. At this time I started studying Florida and Taino history.
The history of the early Florida & Caribbean Indians interested me because their cultures were so violently destroyed. Perhaps, serving in the Seventh Calvary in Vietnam helped me to relate. Anyway, I wanted to do something that had meaning with my life, so I decided to bring back these early native peoples with paint on canvas. Many of the Indians in my paintings look directly out at the viewer in a confrontational manner as if to say “I'm human as you are”. As you walk past the canvas, some of the eyes will follow you, which I did to make a connection with the viewer. My painting exhibit has been displayed in history museums across Florida.
Theodore Morris’ Lost Tribes of Florida paintings are now on permanent display at the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida—an ideal and meaningful home for this body of work. These paintings will continue to engage viewers for generations, offering an important visual record of Florida’s Indigenous peoples and ensuring that their histories, identities, and stories endure.
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