Meet the artist

Loriene Pearson is a Minnesota photographer and emerging artist whose embroidered work focuses on reciprocity. She is a feminist, urban Indian and a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. In 2019, after retiring from a 35-year corporate career in Minneapolis, she started drawing and hand embroidering patterns taken from her powwow photographs. Her 2021 embroidery work MMIW: Break the Chain was seen at the “Bring Her Home: Sacred Womxn of Resistance” exhibit in Minneapolis’ All My Relations Gallery. Her work “She Heals Me” was also on display during All My Relations Gallery exhibit called “Noojimo: She Heals” summer of 2022. In July of 2021, Loriene was awarded Best of Division—Emerging Artists at Native POP (People of the Plains) in Rapid City, South Dakota. She was selected and completed the American Craft Council’s three-month long Emerging Artist Cohort. Loriene’s work was seen at the Sioux Indian Museum, also located in the Journey Museum in Rapid City. Her solo exhibition “Contemporary Threads: Traditional Notions” ran from May 21 to August 29, 2022. This July, she was selected as one of the 2023 Ozhigin Artist Fellows and recently completed the Mni Sota Fund cohort.

Artist Statement: My art is inspired by the mirrored applique dress designs crafted by the women of the Winnebago Tribe. I continue to be influenced by elder stories, historical photographs, personal memories and my relationship with the land. My intention is to merge and morph contemporary threads with traditional notions to challenge traditional paradigms in both embroidery and Native and Indigenous symbolism. The time to do this work is lengthy and has proven to be a valuable gift; time spent stitching allows for introspection and the physical creation of a tangible story from a dream. It took much planning and much work for our women to create the traditional, balanced harmony in their applique designs. As a Winnebago woman and a feminist, I celebrate the beauty of their applique patterns through embroidery, creating framed visual works and wearable art that reflect harmony and reciprocity while striving for a similar harmony in my life.

To learn more about Lori Pearson, visit her website LorienePearson.com.