Rylan Funmaker

I’m a Ho-Chunk artist from the Bear Clan. Most of what I make comes from paying attention to the things my family, singers, and elders taught me growing up. I’m not trying to sound deep or perfect I’m just learning my own way and using art to stay connected to who I am. I like mixing old designs, beadwork patterns, and cultural details with the style I’m building now. Creating helps me slow down, think clearer, and remember where I come from. I want my work to show real identity not a museum way but in a lived everyday way.

This piece begins with an image of myself, but the goal wasn’t self-portrait it was self-understanding. I used my own figure as a way to explore how a person carries their history without even trying. The beadwork pattern behind me represents the quiet structure of our culture: designs that hold memory, discipline, and old teachings. By placing myself within those elements, I’m exploring the space between who I am, who I’m expected to be, and who I’m becoming. The artwork asks how tradition shapes identity, and how identity keeps tradition alive.