Sedona's 4th Annual Indian Artists Market. October 23-24, 2010. Sedona, Arizona. Artist: Charles Decker. According to an interview given to the Yavapai-Apache newspaper, "He’s a little eccentric and definitely talkative, not the norm on the reservation. But once you get to know him, you realize he is a young man proud of his heritage and culture and an inspiration to tribal youth who strive to be artists." Says Charles, "I love art so much I don’t want to do just one form of art. I try to make art for everybody, so everybody can enjoy my art. Of course my main goal here is to promote our culture, to embrace that and inspire artists and youth to use whatever form of technology or art skills they have to promote our culture." For years spray painting has been associated only to tagging and graffiti. Charles has introduced spray painting to our community as a form of art. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to view Charles paintings in person, you would realize that spray paint has come a long way from an alley wall. Using high gloss paint manufactured in Barcelona, Butane torches, and color palette, Decker adapts celestial symbols and landscapes to fuse with the traditional designs of his Apache world. Deeply spiritual, his pieces evoke the power and magic of their ancient traditions. Decker's clan name is 'Na-go-zogeh,' which means "One who marks in the ground". This name traces to his rich family lineage that lived along the East Verde River north of Payson.
18"w x 24"h.
