Contemporary Petroglyphs

Kevin Sudeith practices the oldest extant art form, carving petroglyphs. Human endeavors around the immovable rock outcroppings where the petroglyphs are carved inspire Sudeith’s petroglyphs. He uses transportation motifs to inform his primary subjects: food, energy, and scientific exploration. In North Dakota Sudeith carved images of combines, tractors, pumping derricks and tanker trucks to document the dominant local industries: broad acre farming and crude oil production. Sudeith’s petroglyphs are presented through a variety of ancillary mediums, including photography, video, collage, a relational database and a unique form of printmaking: Sudeith makes archival impressions of the petroglyphs on paper. To make the impressions, the carvings are painted with pigmented ink and then wet paper is applied to the carving; the paper absorbs the colored ink and captures the three-dimensional space of the carving as an embossing. Separately, Sudeith introduced Afghan war rugs to a broad swath of American society, and he is one of the most respected experts in the world about war rugs. Sudeith succeeded in recontextualizing the lowliest of carpets into fine art. He curated, and his collection was featured in, gallery shows and museum exhibitions. He was featured in Forbes, NPR, and the NY Times.