A Native American pop artist showed how the lack of native representation shaped why he began to create art that represented his native perspective for the 44th Richard Thompson Memorial Lecture Thursday evening. 

Steven Paul Judd is known for being a creator of pop art that is influenced by Native American culture. The Kiowa Choctaw native is also a filmmaker, writer, director and screenwriter who has won awards for his work and sells his unique art.

As a child, Judd only saw three actors who he saw as Native Americans; and none of them were actually native. One of these actors was Iron Eyes Cody, who is famous for the crying Indian commercial that promoted ending littering.

 “When I was a kid these were the only people I saw on TV that looked kinda like me,” Judd said.

In second grade, Judd won a drawing contest on the Choctaw Reservation and credited that to his motivation for drawing a lot as a child.

“The teacher said, ‘Wow, you’re really good at art,’ and I believed her … so I started drawing every day,” Judd said. “ And I had this theory that if you tell somebody they’re good at something they’re gonna believe it, and because that they’ll start doing it more.”

After college, Judd entered a contest for the ABC Disney Writers Fellowship and advanced to the final 10.

He was then asked to move to Los Angeles to write for “Zeke and Luther,” where he faced an ethical problem. A group of little girls were dressed as Native Americans, and Judd spoke up, creating change.

When Judd moved back to Oklahoma, he decided he wanted some wall art. He liked pop art and artists like Banksy and Andy Warhol, so he looked online and googled “Native American pop art.”

His search didn’t find what he was looking for, so he decided to create his own artwork. Judd painted a “simple bottle cap” that caught the attention of people online who were interested in buying his work 

“That was the first time I started selling art to people,” Judd said.

From there, Judd decided to produce art that could be used in the context of his native culture, something that his family could relate to. His first native-inspired pop culture piece was “Powwow Bear” using native influences on a Care Bear. 

“Growing up, I loved toys, I loved pop culture but I never saw anything that I felt like … [it] was made for me, or my life experiences or my family’s life experiences,” Judd said. 

Judd mixed mainstream media with his culture’s influences to create art that people could relate to, and especially art that Native Americans could connect with.

Some of Judd’s other pieces in a slide show he presented included Native 8 Ball, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Rez Pez.

Judd’s artwork was not limited to just paintings and posters; he also makes shoes and designs T-shirts and rugs.

Judd has also made specialized Legos in the likeness of movie characters and celebrities. His short films include ‘Neil Discovers the Moon,” “First Contact,” “Round Dance,” and his most famous, “Search for the World’s Best Indian Taco.”