page_title: Truman Lowe
section_title: Red Ochre Series
hierarchical_section_title: Truman Lowe / Major works and symbols / Red Ochre Series
caption_attribution_description: English: Canoe pictograph, Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
context_page_description: Truman Tennis Lowe was an American sculptor and installation artist. A professor of fine art at the University of Wisconsin, Lowe also served as a curator of contemporary art at the National Museum of the American Indian. He is known for large site-specific installation pieces using natural materials.
context_section_description: In 1991 Lowe launched the first of site-specific installations in a series called Red Ochre. The first of the series, shown in Atlanta, Georgia, explored anthropological theories about human migration and early North American settlement. It was inspired by ancient burial sites and death rites. His work reveals ideas of blending cultures, rituals, and migration through time.
  In 1993 the second installation was placed at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lowe's work incorporated images of rock art, examining how cultures' migration paths crossed by way of unifying natural artistic venues. He suggested that rock art served as communication devices for cultures worldwide. In this work, Lowe invited the public to assist in the construction of the work, to ensure the relevance of the piece.
  Both expansive installations include the use of natural materials such as saplings, as well as brown paper, providing a rock-like or textured look to selected mediums. Each piece was dramatically different, with the Eiteljorg work focusing strongly on murals and wall constructs, and the Atlanta work focusing on an exploratory forest-like environment.
caption: Rock art of a canoe – two themes seen within Lowe's artwork, from Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
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