I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Chris Pappan

Exhibition Label:
"Passages: Persistent Visions of a Native Place," Sep-2011, Nancy Mahaney
The two works presented here present a highly skilled depiction of Little Bear. The drawing, on antique ledger paper, serves as a figure study for the final work. In the painting of Little Bear, Pappan utilizes the image of the railroad poster advertising native lands creating a juxtaposition of person and place as defined within the context of relocation.
When researching old maps of Kansas I came across an advertisement showing the fertile lands of Kansas and that it was “opened for settlement.” This painting reproduces that advertisement on a large scale with an image of Little Bear once again showing the “other side” of the equation. The title is a direct reference to “The Wizard of Oz,” which I have re-contextualized for my own agenda.
Chris Pappan, 2011