Hand Drum

Wood, Leather

This is a hand drum made by a Ho-Chunk man for his young son or nephew. When a boy becomes interested in the Big Drum used in powwows, his older male relatives make a small drum for him to practice. The sound that the drum makes when it is struck is the heartbeat of the Ho-Chunk people. The drumbeat brings life to social gatherings as much as the drum teaches young boys to sing and drum.

Callie O’Connor is from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She will graduate in the spring of 2016 with a degree in Public and Policy History with plans to pursue a graduate degree in Textile Conservation.

Heartbeat

​Archival Inkjet Print

In creating this visual work, I am interested in representing the sound of the repetition, rhythm, and reverberation of the drum beat as a persistent and vital pulse of human expression.

Kathleen Hawkes received her BFA from Cornell University, and her MFA from the University of New Mexico. She is an Assistant Professor of Art at UWL.