Holy Man - Holy City by James Bama

Holy Man - Holy City
by James Bama

Dimensions: 23 x 18 in.
Edition Size: 75
Limited Edition Canvas

“This is one of my favorite paintings because of the combination of the location and the subject,” says James Bama. “I had the chance to attend two different ceremonies this holy man performed. He’s a Crow Indian and a member of the Whistling Water Clan. The Crow are the only plains tribe with a clan system. I think there are about ten different clans in the tribe and the Whistling Water Clan is the largest. That makes him a very important person in Crow society and an impressive subject to paint.”

“The Holy City is a lava formation about 8 miles from my house in Bighorn National Forest, leading into Yellowstone National Park. The same volcanic activity that created Yellowstone’s landscape formed these. They are very dramatic. Putting the two together made a great deal of sense because they are both such moving subjects. One would think that they represent two very different kinds of inspiration, but the more you think about it, the more you realize they actually belong together.”