From the Artist - J. NiCole:
This room is showing recognition to women rising and our future generation. Each portrait is based on women that have inspired me, because they make a stand for what they believe in and for their communities. I want people to feel empowered, happy, love, and strength when they stay in this room.
Joann Kauffman – Nez Perce
The portrait on the square wall behind the restroom is of Joann Kauffman representing our elders. She is a community activist, Native rights activist and advocate for First Amendment issues. To me she represents strength.
Coco – Comanche/Kiowa
The child represents our youth and the future.
Kim Smith – Dine
The portrait by the desk is of Kim Smith. She is also a Native rights activist, not only in her community but all over the world. To me she represents the present.
April Holder - Sac and Fox/Wichita/Tonkawa
The canvas print by the sink is of April Holder. She is an artist, and I admire her humble strong statements she makes in all of her paintings.
The elk teeth in the bathroom represent women, love, strength, and empowerment.
I want people to see the inner beauty and strength of our women, not just the physical appearance. The colors represent my emotions and emotions around me. We carry all of these beautiful colors within ourselves and I want them to resonate with each portrait.
About J. NiCole Hatfield:
Comanche/Kiowa (Numunuu/Khoiye-Goo)
J. NiCole Hatfield (Nahmi-A-Piah), is a Native Oklahoman self-taught artist who draws her inspiration from historical photographs of her proud tribal women. Just as she describes her paintings as ‘her voice’, she feels that painting these women acknowledges and honors them by giving them a voice in our contemporary world. She also teaches and preserves tribal languages by frequently incorporating them into her paintings. She studied a broad range of mediums while attending the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe but her preferred medium to translate her bold colors to canvas is acrylic paint. J. NiCole was launched into the art scene in Santa Fe through the Indigenous Fine Art Market (IFAM), live paints and lectures at the Paseo Art Gallery. She is frequently a guest artist at the world-famous launch pad of Native American fine art: the Oscar B. Jacobson House on the O.U. campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Her work has been exhibited and showcased in the Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center, the Anadarko Southern Plains Museum, as well as in many notable private collections. J. NiCole has participated in numerous festivals, celebrations and juried events including the Norman Arts Council One Beat Street, Tonemah Annual Christmas Benefit Concert Live Art Fundraiser, Indigenous Fine Art Market in Santa Fe, 4th Annual American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival, Small Works, Great Wonders National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Art Show, and NMAI Art Market, Gathering of The Tribes SRP at UCR, Riverside, CA Workshop, Juried Autry Art Market in Los Angeles and the Juried NMAI Smithsonian Native American Art Market in New York City. Her awards include the second place in the 2D Painting division at the Artesian Arts Festival in Sulphur, Oklahoma and second place at the Comanche Nation Fair. She received the Rupert Costo Medal award from Sherman Indian High School, in Riverside, California, where she addressed students as part of a lecture series for the Native American Student Program of the University of California. J. NiCole has a strong history of tying together art and community improvement. Her piece “Cheyenne Girl” won the Kauffman and Associates call for Native art work and has been featured on walls in different cities for the Native Art 4 Health Campaign. And, she has worked with the Delaware Nation Suicide Prevention Program and performed a live paint for the Red Feather Gala’s Annual Fundraiser in Oklahoma City to raise funds for the Indian Health Services Women’s Health Program in Oklahoma City. J. NiCole is currently working on a mural at Lacey Pioneer in Anadarko, Oklahoma and travels locally, creating live works of art for special events and fundraisers for organizations such as the Comanche Nation I AM NDN Program, which focuses on empowering the Native youth. Born and raised in the Southern Plains of Oklahoma J. Nicole, respectfully of the Penetukah (honey eater) band of Comanches, has a profound understanding of the unique paradox in which Native American people and artists find themselves. She is challenged with art’s demand to “make it new” while still honoring and appreciating the unchanging spirit in all things as well as traditional tribal values. By consolidating the past as well as transcending it, she is able to obtain the gasps of artistic air needed to escape drowning in the assimilating flood of Native fine art.