Biography of:
Nathan Hart
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Born and raised in Western Oklahoma, Cheyenne artist Nathan Hart was featured in a February 2009 Native Peoples magazine article highlighting him as one of four ground breaking artists in Native art. Hart’s artistic vision creates graceful hollow-form turnings into elegant contemporary art forms setting a new standard for this ancient process.
A fondness of wood and working with his hands goes back to Hart’s childhood. Soon after graduating from college in 1983, he bought a lathe, and taught himself the art of hollow-form turning. After a successful career working in American Indian communities in primarily finance and investment, Hart began his love of wood turning, focusing almost entirely on art in 2001. His many vessels ranging from 3 to 22 inches tall are made from different woods including, walnut, maple, redwood, and pecan. Hart is especially drawn to burls – a knotty growth in the wood or tree root with interlocking grain patterns and colors, which take on abstract patterns and designs. Sometimes the process of wood turning can take several months to complete.
While Hart has earned top awards, including first place at SWAIA’s Santa Fe Indian Market and Best of Division at the Heard Museum Guild and Indian Fair and Market. It is the symbolism in his art that is especially meaningful. Says Hart, “the four sided Morning Star speaks of the resilience of Northern Cheyenne Chief Morning Star, who in the late 1800’s led his people back to their ancestral lands following a forced relocation to Oklahoma. As the first star of dawn, the Morning Star signals hope and renewal.” The Morning Star opening is one of several incorporated design elements of a Nathan Hart turned wood vessel. The balance of color and form, shape and substance fully reveals the beauty and richness of the wood.
In 2006 Hart’s work was highlighted in, "Changing Hands: Art without Reservation, 2 - Contemporary Native North American Art from the West, Northwest and Pacific,” organized at the Museum of Arts & Design, New York, New York, and in "Art from Indian Territory 2007: the state of being American Indian" an exhibition organized by the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His work was also included in the Inaugural Exhibition of the Oklahoma State Art Collection at the Oklahoma State Capitol in 2007. Hart worked as a consultant to the exhibit designers for the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum from 2002 until 2008 when he joined the staff of the Cultural Center as the Director of Community Affairs.
Hart currently resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with his family. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. His work is in numerous private and public collections.
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HEARD MUSEUM
