Kaninii Moon

In many of Lavadour's landscapes, the earth itself seems to come alive as a haunting, spectral figure. Because he is a Native American, it's easy to assume that he is calling upon those traditions of  earth and spirits in his paintings. There is some of that.  But he also is fluent in the traditions of Western art making.  The cross-fertilization adds strength to his work.  James Lavadour lives on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon.  He is part Walla Walla Indian.