Roy Lichtenstein’s American Indian Theme V, 1980, presents a stylised mask like face positioned on the right side of the composition. The face is reduced to a series of simplified graphic features, including two circular eyes, a mouth, and a chin and nose suggested through dashed black lines. The upper section of the head is rendered in a bright yellow field, while the cheeks are composed of alternating yellow and blue stripes. Behind the mask, the background is filled with black and blue striped bands that create a strong sense of rhythm across the surface of the print.
To the left of the face, Lichtenstein introduces a series of geometric forms and decorative motifs that balance the composition. A feather like element constructed from white and blue shapes appears along the left side, while near the top of the image a white, skull like geometric figure made from a larger rectangle and three smaller rectangular forms floats above the composition. Executed as a woodcut on handmade Suzuki paper, American Indian Theme V forms part of Lichtenstein’s American Indian Theme series from 1980. In these prints, the artist combines bold colour, graphic pattern, and simplified forms to reinterpret motifs associated with Indigenous visual traditions through the language of Pop Art.