Art Brokers of Colorado

The work of Kirby Sattler is fueled by an inherent interest in the
Indigenous Peoples of the Earth. His current images evolve from the
history, ceremony, mythology, and spirituality of the Native American.
Sattler's ultra-detailed interpretations examine the inseparable
relationship between the Indian and his natural world, reflecting
a culture that had no hard line between the sacred and the mundane.
Each painting functions on the premise that all natural phenomena
have souls independent of their physical beings. Under such a belief,
the wearing of sacred objects were a source of spiritual power.
Any object - a stone, a plait of sweet grass, a part of an animal,
the wing of a bird, could contain the essence of the metaphysical
qualities identified to the objects and desired by the Native American.
The acquisition of Medicine or spiritual power was central to
lives on the Indian. It provided the conduit to the unseen forces of the universe. The artist sates, I attempt to give the viewer of my work a sense
of what these sacred objects meant to the wearer; when combined with
the proper ritual or prayer there would be a transference of identity.
More than just aesthetic adornment, it was an outward manifestation
of their identity and their inter-relatedness with their natural world. At first glance, you're so struck by the incredible detail
and authenticity that you might assume that Sattler's primary
objective is to create a historically accurate portrayal of his subject.
Wrong. Although he is meticulous about creating a true-to-life depiction
of the clothing, artifacts and cultural traditions of the North Plains
Native Americans, Sattler is more concerned with capturing a sense of
spirituality and reverence. I don't care if people like it or dislike
it, as long as they have a reaction to it, he explains. Although his
familiarity with the Northern Plains tribes might suggest to some that
Sattler is a Native American, he is not. He doesn't pretend to be a
Native American and doesn't claim to understand the issues they face.
Although he recognizes the boundaries that separate him from his subjects,
his appreciation and respect for the Native American culture is no less
genuine. He admires the inter relatedness they have with the environment
and their reverence for nature. Sattler has developed his painting into a distinctive
style of realism, the methodology involves the painstaking
layering of multiple under paintings with transparent washes.
People will come up and actually touch the canvas, thinking the
feather is going to move. This technique results in canvases that
are rich in defined textures and surfaces. With the tediousness of each
work, he produces a very limited number of paintings each year. Collectors
have had to exercise patience in obtaining new works. Sattler has managed to achieve such effects without much formal art education.
He attended Arizona State University for a year but quickly realized that he
didn't want to learn to paint in another person's style. Kirby found refuge as
caretaker at a friend's ranch in Steamboat Springs. Virtually alone on the ranch
without the distractions of urban living, he spent his nights painting and,
in turn, discovered his calling in life. I finally got to know who I really
was, I found that I truly loved to paint.