Carol Emarthle Douglas

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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Northern Arapaho - Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

MEDIUM: Basketry - Other, Painting/Illustration

ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a Traditional/Contemporary basket weaver, multimedia artist.  I create baskets that tell a story by design, shape and use of color.  Coiled basket weaving is an extremely time consuming process and the baskets produced in a years time are one of a kind.  My inspiration is from my Northern Arapaho and Seminole heritage. Some of my designs from Plains style beadwork, ledger art, parfleche designs of my mother’s tribe, my father, of the Seminole Nation inspires the color, patterns of Seminole patchwork in my weaving and painting. Seminole designs represent the eight tribal clans and designs in nature.

My choice of employing contemporary processed materials is due to not having access to my traditional raw materials,I use hemp core, waxed linen thread for larger baskets, round reed, raffia; a palm fiber, silk thread, and beads to create miniature baskets.  I will use natural plant fibers when available.  The technique of coiling baskets is one of the oldest methods in basketry and were passed down by both tribes.   As a basket weaver I continue learning new ways of mixing materials and incorporating new techniques.  My baskets range in size from large pieces which can be up to 14” in diameter and miniatures 1” in diameter with intricately detailed designs.  My paintings are inspired by previous sketches of my own basket designs which I deconstruct and then transfer to paper.

As a weaver, the opportunity to travel and share my weaving techniques through teaching and presentations of my work have been one way I can   carry on the tradition of keeping the art of basket weaving alive for all generations. 

Along with weaving my painting is another way to express my creativity to gain a wider audience in another medium.  Most of my paintings to date are inspired by baskets I created over my career.  Painting allows me to work with more color, detail of design and is a way to bring my previous basket sketches to life.  I plan to continue painting to  allow my basket weaving pieces come to life in a new form.

 

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Nayana Lafond

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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Anishinaabe

MEDIUM: Painting/Illustration

BIOGRAPHY
Nayana LaFond is a multi-disciplinary artist and human rights advocate living and working in Massachusetts. She attended Greenfield community college for fine art and Mass College of art for Photography. Primarily a painter Nayana is also a sculptor and curator serving as former primary curator for The Whitney Center for The Arts. Nayana also serves on the executive board of directors of Artist Organized Art, is an advisory board member for the Native Youth Empowerment fund and sits on the board of several other arts and non arts organizations. Nayana's paintings and sculptures can be seen in museums and galleries all over the world. She is best known for her ongoing painting series titled "Portraits in RED; Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples Painting Project" for which she makes absolutely no profit. Nayana is an enrolled citizen of the Metis Nation of Ontario with roots in the historic Red River Settlement and has additional First Nation and non indigenous descent. 

 

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David Lonebear Sanipass

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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mi’kmaq

MEDIUM: Painting; Jewelry; Woodwork

ARTIST STATEMENT
My name is David Lonebear Sanipass, I grew up in northern Maine. I am from the Mi’kmaq Nation. I am a carver, make flutes, I paint and sketch. As an artist you want to be able to represent your art. I find the best way is to be able to talk about what it means. Some of what I do is so intricate you’re not really looking at what it means. The representation has been lost through interpretation. Part of the beauty isn't appreciated because it doesn’t speak to you. We have found a way for my art to speak with you, to come from my spirit, so it can be better appreciated and you will know more where I am coming from.

 

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Norma "Randi" Smith

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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy/Hidatsa and Mandan

MEDIUM: Painting/Illustration

BIOGRAPHY
Norma Randi Smith is a multi-faceted artist, homesteader, and entrepreneur from Maine. A transplant from her father’s clan in North Dakota of the Hidatsa and Mandan people, she moved to her Passamaquoddy mother’s tribal lands of Sipayik as a young girl and was raised on the beautifully rugged coastline of Washington County. There she learned the importance of family, community ways, and customs. However, with the other tribal origins and inspiration of her father, Randi took after her father’s artistic ability of creativity and drawing; this ability continued as she turned into an adult and felt like her last connection as her father died of a tragic death at a young age. Some of the content that Norma paints is inspired by her father’s tribal people, history, and customs but also is influenced by the rich history of the Passamaquoddy people and the beautiful contrasts of those tribes.

Norma is a graduate from the University of Maine at Machias with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary fine arts with a focus on painting. She uses oil and acrylic paints on canvas with a focus on her heritage of both sides of her indigenous families. She also likes to incorporate the idea and use of energetic intent in her paintings by employing sigils while painting or other esoteric means to portray her feelings of ancestry, heritage, connection, and healing. Painting for Randi is her way to get closer and convey the importance of roots, tribal customs, and learning. Her painting style is a mix of abstract and realism. She likes to paint on a larger scale and likes to paint everyday beauty that comes from nature, life, dreams, and spirituality.

 

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