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Douglas
Miles
(Apache Skateboards)
Artist and Poet, San Carlos Apache Reservation
Using vivid colors and strong forms, Douglas Miles
explores the past and present of Indian life in his art. “I love
traditional Indian art, but I know people need to break away from
that for the art to grow,” he says. “You need to show Indian
people in the 21st century and not so much as museum pieces.
Contemporary Indian people do lots of things—they’re teachers,
actors, poets, scientists, and journalists.” Miles, a former
social worker who also writes poetry and has acted in several
movies, works in prismacolor pencil, watercolor, and acrylics.
Recently, he’s been working on an unusual surface: skateboards.
The decision to paint on the boards was influenced by his teenage
son. “I think there’s a spiritual side to skateboarding,” Miles
says. “There’s kind of a warrior aspect to it—it’s a solo effort,
something that you do continually.” He is currently the heading
the first ever Native owned and operated skateboard company:
Apache Skateboards and has created the first ever all Native
skate team. His skateboard art won the Best of Painting Division
prize at March’s Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market. His
Apache Skateboard is currently being featured in Artrain USA’s
Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture exhibit opening in
Phoenix, Arizona this spring. He also was awarded the 1st
Place in Mixed Media at the annual 2003 Santa Fe Indian Market
for a set of Apache Skateboards. In addition to
participating in the Santa Fe Indian Market, his work was featured
in We’re Still Here with the Mountains, a show of works by Apache
artists including Bob Haozous, and Allan Houser at New Mexico’s
Hubbard Museum of the American West earlier this year. He is
represented by Mark Bahti Fine Arts, Tucson, AZ, and Galerie-
Kokopelli, Germany.
(Click on a photo below to enlarge)
Photo Credits: Frank Boistel
www.apacheskateboards.com
www.douglasmilesstyle.com
