A NATIVE SON
I was 5 years old; I remember standing in front of a giant rock face with my father Yellowman and him explaining the historical relevance of INSCRIPTION ROCK. Being only 5, his way of explaining it to me was super simple but became a driving force my life,
Yellowman-"You know the paintings I paint?"
The Son-"Yeah."
Yellowman-"You know how I sign them with my name on the bottom corner when im finished?"
The Son-"Yeah."
Yellowman-"Well for thousands of years people have been signing their names into this rock.... Thousands of years and their names still stand.... Its pretty cool."
The Son-"So it's kinda like they'll live forever hu?"
"Celebration at Night" circa 1995
Watercolor Under Glass
I grew up in the early 80s in the inner City in what the local community dubbed "The War Zone." I was the first of my family to be born off the Indian Reservation and not on a military base. Watching my parents navigate through uncharted economic territory and survive off the reservation was a miracle made possible by their hard work.
The wave of hip-hop and counter culture swept through my city. I was already well into my professional art career. It was the early 90s and I was sitting in my room painting; watching tv. A news broadcast came on about the death of Keith Haring. I sat watching his eyes get lost in his imagination, drawing his 2 dimensional characters (his signature) on the subway walls, fearless of repercussions. Graffiti had me hooked instantly.
By the time 2001 hit my client list was more famous than you would ever believe and I was well into living two artistic lives. When it came to my "Native fine art life" I was very clinical and meticulous. I had achieved a standard of quality synonymous with my "Name."
In my other life I was free of reputation... anonymous, able to create without judgment. It was liberating to put up a "piece" and have it run for a few days then have it come down.
One late night 1990 something, I was signing a painting and thought about my last name. My thought process started with who was the first "Nelson" and how did my American Indian family get this European last name? Turns out the story is all to familiar, Indian boarding school. In efforts to erase our American Indian identity, my Dine' ancestors were assigned the standard issue U.S. government name "Nelson." After this revelation I never had the same attachment to my last name and stopped signing it on my work. Shortly after that I began signing my Kiowa name Ahn Hia Ohm or "He knows" on my paintings and identifying as "Ben Nelson" was a remnant of my cultural holocaust. Even now when I see my "government name" on show placards or ig posts im like "Whose that guy :) ?" In Ndn culture the polite way to greet a stranger is say " hello my name is ______ , and im the son/daughter of______." Combining old Ndn ways with the street culture led me to "write" under a nom de plume "The Son of Picasso" which gives honor back to my father and artistic mentor Yellowman. 
1987-1993•
Ben Nelson (Government Name)
•1993-1995•
Ben Nelson/B NELSON (Government Name), Ahn-Hia-Ohm (Kiowa Name)
•1995-2005•
Ahn-Hia-Ohm (Kiowa Name)
•2005- PRESENT DAY•
"A" (single capital letter)
The Son of Picasso (nom de plume)