Snuffed Out

20” x 30”

Stamp Collage Resurrected Art with Resin 

“Snuffed Out” is part of Bonner’s “Resurrected Art” series. This found 19th century art, by an unknown artist, depicts a small band of Native American Indians overlooking the Columbia River Gorge with an active volcano in the Pacific Northwest. Bonner gives this lost art piece a second life by layering a new story – the fall of the American Indian.

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln approved two historic acts: the Transcontinental Railroad Act, and the Homestead Act. Those two governing acts paved the way for whites settling west of the Mississippi River. Which ultimately sealed the fate and destruction of the Native American Indian’s way of life. The layering of vintage U.S. Tobacco Revenue stamps, produced by the federal government to fund the Union’s costs of Civil War–Lincoln stamps, Transcontinental Act, and Homestead Act stamps, represent our nation’s dark cloud that looms over the treatment of the Native American Indians. Alcohol and tobacco became coping mechanisms for all tribes.

Today, 6 out every 10 Native American Indians commit suicide due to the broken treaty and failed policies that were birthed by the U.S. Federal government during the 18, and 19th century.