Inspiration for the piece:

My home town is surrounded by 3 reservations. So many Native American women and girls go missing or end up dead with little news coverage. So this case, this logo speaks to me but I wanted to bring it to life.

What role does art play in your life?

I have been incarcerated in one way or another for 40 years. I am 51. Art is my escape, my way of reaching out. My family all have my pieces hanging on their walls. It's my way of saying I was here, and I know how to create, not just destroy.

Artist statement:

I started drawing when I was very little. I would draw on everything. I got my first art kit from my step grandma Eleanor when I was 5. It was the most amazing thing I had ever gotten. I used to draw landscapes and out of my head places I wanted to escape to. Mountains, lakes. Somewhere along the way I lost the ability to draw from imagination like I lost the ability to dream and imagine. So, I started doing portraits, only when I do one of someone I know or love, it's hard because I try to draw it as I see them, not as the world or even they see them. That's why self portraits can be so difficult. I either draw them with the added beauty I know they possess, or the ugliness I feel within.