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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Theresa Secord

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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot

MEDIUM: Basketry - Ash, Basketry - Other

BIOGRAPHY
Theresa Secord (b.1958) is a traditional Penobscot basketmaker and the founding director of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA). Over the course of 30 years, Theresa taught more than a dozen apprentices the endangered art of ash and sweetgrass basketry. Now, some of her apprentice’s apprentices- have apprentices!

Theresa has been honored several times for her advocacy. Among the most notable, the National Endowment for the Arts bestowed her with the prestigious lifetime achievement award, the National Heritage Fellowship, in 2016. In 2003, she was awarded the Prize for Creativity in Rural Life by the Women’s World Summit Foundation, granted at the UN in Geneva Switzerland, for helping basket makers rise out of poverty. She has won a number of first place ribbons for her own basketry at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Eiteljorg Indian Art Market and the Heard Museum

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Tol-pi-yiné Simbola

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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Picuris Pueblo

MEDIUM: Jewelry

BIOGRAPHY

Tol-pi-yiné is a metalsmith from Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico but makes his creations from a small studio space in the heart of Downtown Santa Fe. 

"My mother taught me to make jewelry when I was 12 years old while she was homeschooling me and I was fortunate enough to create jewelry and participate in the prestigious SWAIA Indian Market in Santa Fe, NM for 7 years as a youth. Creating jewelry for the Indian Market became my art class and I was able to explore basic fabricating techniques. Years of experience and inspiration from the top of the line Native Artists I was surrounded by, made me even more creative and willing to experiment."

Tol-pi-yiné's newest creation "Dragon Skinn" is a stand-out contemporary line of jewelry that resembles the scales or 'skin' like texture of the mythical creature, created by meticulously and repeatedly stamping from both sides with a single diamond repoussé stamp. 

"When I think of typical “Native American” art, I think pottery, paintings of plains and horses, sculpture, basketry, sacred things with natural color, and certain geometrical shapes. Sterling silver is not always one of these - especially in the hands of someone like myself. Growing up traditional but also having influence of the modern world has given me a different perspective on designs as a jeweler. Even though I keep a certain aesthetic, I like to try new things to see what may come from my inspirations at the time. I don't center my work around turquoise or traditional influence - but rather let my stamp work and fabrication speak for themselves. Everything I create is one of a kind, and no two pieces are the same."

 

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Sarah Sockbeson

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Photo by Robin Farrin

Photo by Robin Farrin

TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot

MEDIUM: Basketry - Ash

ARTIST STATEMENT
I have been an artist my entire life. Being Penobscot, I had seen baskets in museums and in the homes of my family members and was always fascinated by them. I was also told stories about my great-grandmother who was a basketmaker in the early 1900s. I wanted to be a part of this tradition, but unfortunately, in my family, it was not passed down to my generation. I still found ways to practice art, and began painting and experimenting with various mediums. I found it was a great outlet for my artistic abilities.

In 2004, I apprenticed with Jennifer Neptune as part of the Maine Arts Commission Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. I was honored to have the opportunity to work with a skilled masterweaver, such as Jennifer. Since then, I have sharpened my skills with each basket woven.

Although I am using traditional material and techniques, my style comes from the place I live today, in this modern society. Basketry, to me, is a fine art and in order for the tradition to survive, it must evolve. It is important for my work to appeal to a modern audience, while still remaining true to cultural traditions. I take pride in every project I set out to do, and I am constantly striving to be better at what I do. When I can create something that surpasses my initial vision, it gives me a real sense of accomplishment.

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Dawn Spears

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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Narragansett/Choctaw

MEDIUM: Clothing, Diverse Arts, Painting/Illustration

ARTIST STATEMENT
My work reflects all facets of life. My mother Diosa Summers, Choctaw was an artist and educator who inspired and encouraged creativity in me and my siblings at an early age. I grew up being exposed to many forms of artmaking, assisting her was my introduction to art. It was inevitable that I would end up with similar interests.  I am a mother of three, a wife of thirty-six years to Cassius and a grandmother of seven, I find as an artist, that being able to create original art that has elements of my culture and tradition, is my best form of expression, I use symbolism and the rich colors of our natural world as inspiration for my abstract paintings and designs.

 

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Frances Soctomah

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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy

MEDIUM: Basketry - Ash, Beadwork

ARTIST STATEMENT
As a Passamaquoddy artist, every time I create something new I’m reminded it’s not new. Our families and peoples have been here for over 13,000 years and everything I make is building on their legacies. All that comes from me is made possible from their knowledge of our homelands. To do as my ancestors did is to know them. To see the art they created is to hear their whispers. My work continues to let their stories flow while reminding us of the hardships, strengths, and love that allowed us to be here today as Wabanaki People.

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