Dennis Cusick

Dennis Cusick (c. 1800–1824) was a Tuscarora painter from New York and one of the founders of the Iroquois Realist Style of painting.

[1] James Young, a teacher at the Buffalo Creek school, wrote about Dennis, "in acquiring the arts he has had no instruction except what he has received from copying.

Dennis' flair for calligraphy in almost uncanny in its precision, as showcased in Biblical quotes, examples of script on a chalkboard, and minute vocabulary lessons in three languages, pinned on the walls.

Quotes about the nature of work hover over a scene of Tuscarora girls, busy as a variety of spinning wheels, overseen by an elaborately coiffed Mrs. Young at the paintings' left.

The three are flanked by loose, painterly foliage, and a dense tree, in which Dennis scraped the paint away to produce highlights.

The narrow slice of sky is filled with a variety of cloud formations, and a minute sun tucked in the far left corner.

[1]: 137  The watercolor painting features a Tuscarora woman handing her baby to an Iroquois man, wearing a fingerwoven sash, leggings, and moccasins.

Swaying trees cover rolling hills around the edges of the scene, but the center of the painting has large unpainted, negative space, providing contrast the figures.

[1]: 29  Their work was a departure from previous Iroquois art forms and paved the way for Native Americans to use new materials from the global community to express their contemporary realities.