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Today's Google Doodle: Native American author James Welch and Ledger Art.
About the Doodle: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/google-makes-ledger-art-celebrate-legendary-native-american-author-james-welch-180961153/
Sophie Diao, the Google Doodler who created the image on the homepage, did her best to capture Welch’s unique life and legacy in the doodle. On its blog, Google writes that the image, which was created just in time for National Native American History Month, is intended to pay tribute to both “[Welch’s] artistic appeal and ability to bring the experiences of the Native American people to life.”
Diao, who has a background in film storytelling and animation, found inspiration not just in Welch’s books, but in ledger art, a form of 19th-century artwork created by Native Americans in the margins of old account books and ledgers that saw a revival in the late 20th century. “It’s a really unique style,” she tells Smithsonian.com. “So pretty. It caught my eye and I really wanted to do something around that.”
For Diao, who is of Chinese descent, the chance to learn about Welch’s life and work also resonated with her as a woman of color. “I definitely sympathize with the fears that were shown in [Fools Crow] about your culture being taken away from you our being changed against your will.” She also worked with Native American employees at Google and with Welch’s widow to make sure she represented the subtleties of a culture not her own. “I wanted to strike a balance between being reverential of his work and and his heritage as a Native American, but also make it easy for the user to look at. I didn’t want it to look like some random person’s idea of tribal art.”
Diao, who has a background in film storytelling and animation, found inspiration not just in Welch’s books, but in ledger art, a form of 19th-century artwork created by Native Americans in the margins of old account books and ledgers that saw a revival in the late 20th century. “It’s a really unique style,” she tells Smithsonian.com. “So pretty. It caught my eye and I really wanted to do something around that.”
For Diao, who is of Chinese descent, the chance to learn about Welch’s life and work also resonated with her as a woman of color. “I definitely sympathize with the fears that were shown in [Fools Crow] about your culture being taken away from you our being changed against your will.” She also worked with Native American employees at Google and with Welch’s widow to make sure she represented the subtleties of a culture not her own. “I wanted to strike a balance between being reverential of his work and and his heritage as a Native American, but also make it easy for the user to look at. I didn’t want it to look like some random person’s idea of tribal art.”
More at above link.
