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"Throughout my life, the one thing that I have excelled in is art. Every since I can remember I had always wanted to create, it did not matter what, just as long as I got the opportunity."
Yatika Starr Fields was born in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, in December 1980. He is the son of Tom and Anita Fields,
and has a sister, Welana, 25, and a brother, Nokosee, age 14.
Yatika is of the Cherokee, Creek/ and Osage tribes, and is a
member of the Bear Clan. His Creek name "Yvtekv"
means Interpreter. He was giving his Osage name, Ho-moie,
(Among the heavenly bodies) during an Osage Native American Church
meeting on his first birthday. When he was seven years old he
was initiated into the Osage I-lo-shka dance society, Hominy
district.
Yatika is a graduate of Stillwater High School class of 2000.
He was the president of the Art Club and was instrumental in
organizing a club trip to the museums and galleries of New York
city, a first for the small club. He was also a member of the
Chess club, and recently he received a third place at the Oklahoma
Scholastic Chess Tournament.
Yatika has been making art since he was a child. His drawings,
paintings and collages were sophisticated and showed a natural
intuitive understanding of composition and design. His talents
and creativity were nurtured by his exploration of various mediums,
video, photography, including mixed media assemblages, and found
objects.
Yatika's work has been recognized for several years during the
Red Earth Indian art market in Oklahoma. He has won awards for
drawing, clay sculpture, and in 1992 he won an award for a video
titled "The Dance."
During the summer of 1998, he was accepted in the prestigious
Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, where he studied sculpture. He
was subsequently accepted in 1999, to study painting, and 2000
to study photography.
In 1999 Yatika was one of four students in Oklahoma to receive
an American Vision Award, for a painting entered in the Scholastic
Art Competition. He traveled to Washington DC and received the
award at the John F. Kennedy Center. His monochromatic painting
was selected to be in the National Scholastic Art Exhibit at
the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
During the Oklahoma Regional Scholastic
Art Competition 2000 held at Tulsa University, he received several
awards included; Gold Regional Portfolio, three gold keys in
Painting, four gold keys in Photography, and one gold key for
a Video.
In March of 2000 Yatika was a recipient of The Oklahoma State
Superintendents Award for Art Excellence 2000.
During the summer of 2000, Yatika traveled to Siena, Italy where
he studied landscape painting. On the weekends he traveled to
Florence and Rome to study the works of art by the masters.
Yatika was selected to represent all Native American youth artist at the Asian Pacific Economic Council (APEC) Young Artists' Exhibition during the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, November 12-17, 2000. The theme was"Contemporary Indigenous Arts -Discovering the Roots". While there he painted a mural with other youth artist from the 21 member countries.
Yatika attended the Art Institute of Boston where he studied for a year. During his years living in Boston, Yatika continued to paint and became involved in the urban Graffiti culture. It was during this time that he became involved in large area painting and started working on mural projects.
Recently Yatika was selected to participate in the Native Youth Arts Leadership Initiative, a project sponsored by Atlatl to assit the next generation of native artist. He attended workshops and lectures with visiting artists, such as Fritz Sholder, learning the role of an artist and how to become a leader among Native People. The sessions were held in Seattle, WA, Santa Fe, NM, and Phoenix, AZ,
During the summer of 2004, Yatika participated in a Native Youth Night, where he collaborated on a graffiti mural with another native artist. This project was In recognition of the mixture of popular and hip-hop culture in the artwork of young Native American artists. It was held at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe, NM
During July of 2004 he was selected to paint an original mural for his Osage tribal Casino. He was selected over more experienced artist because of his initiative and original subject approach.
Yatika is represented by Addison/Parks Gallery in Santa Fe. NM. He currently is living in Brooklyn, NY, where he continues to paint and experience the creative energies and inspirations of urban life.