There are many times that I just let each painting go where it must. It’s difficult for me to explain. I’m growing with the work and as a person, I always strive to bring the emotion into the work. Basically, if it comes from my heart then it is good. I prefer to let my work tell the stories. By blending both political and religious symbolism, I press the viewer to look for the message that might be found there. I don’t necessarily want you to think what I think. I just want you to think.” - Effrem Perea

Effrem Perea is an artist who’s work depicts American Indians of the late 1800’s – a turbulent period in American history known as the Indian wars.

The Indians he paints are suspended in time; they are both ancient and contemporary, and their faces reflect the sorrow and hope, the anger and pride, and the unconquered spirit of American Indians. Effrem is able to see and portray both paths – the Indians and the white – in a way that few others can.

Effrem’s one desires in life was to paint. But he didn’t have the “luxury”, as he calls it, of attending art school. But after reflecting on some of his childhood years spent on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation and studying the “Ghost Dance” religion, he had found his inspiration. “Ghost Dance” refers to a religion that emerged near the 1860's and lasted until approximately 1890.

In Perea’s words “It was a time in history when you had people, the American Indian, being uprooted from their homes and land, and stripped of their identity, culture and religion and becoming a minority in their own damn country, and being starved into submission. They were looking for hope, something to believe in, and here comes Wovoka. He believed himself to be the Indian messiah. … several of the remaining Indians nations united in this belief, in hope of restoring their way of life. They believed that by dancing for several days while wearing a ghost shirt and ghost paint, the white man would disappear, the buffalo would return, and those who died would come back. That was all they wanted. …the whole concept of this is a constant source of inspiration to me.”

Effrem Perea’s artwork is a monument to the American Indians who fought to preserve their homeland. The spirits he brings to life convoy the pride, courage, and sorrow of a nation that struggled to survive as it was destroyed by another. Their way of life can never be regained, but their strength live on in Perea’s heart. He is a man of depth, belief and conviction, and as long as he continues to deliver the messages of the old Indian Ghosts, they will live on forever.