Kimowan McLain, who also signs his later work as Metchewais, is a professor of art at the University of North Carolina. He is a member of the Cold Lake First Nations, a Cree and Dine Indian reservation in western Canada. His formal training has taken him to the universities of Alberta, New Mexico and Yale.

His art is an inventive blend of photography and painting. These quality works have been purchased for numerous public and corporate collections including the Canadian government, Peace Hills Trust and The Dillard Collection of Art on Paper.

Prestigious awards include a national award from the Canadian Aboriginal Arts Foundation, the Ellen Battel Stoekel Fellowship from Yale and an Individual Artist Fellowship from the North Carolina Arts Council.

Notable exhibitions include the Chelsea Art Museum in New York, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia and the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art.