Loriene Pearson



Loriene Pearson

About The Artist

Woodbury, MN


I am a feminist, urban Indian from Minnesota and a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. I am an emerging artist reinventing myself after a long corporate career. My embroidery artwork was born and newly set in motion in 2019 after creating my own embroidery patterns based and inspired by my Winnebago Tribe’s appliqué patterns, I create and hand-embroider new, complex designs that challenge traditional paradigms in both embroidery and Native symbolism.



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What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

I want to pay homage to the Winnebago women who created appliqué works before me. My Tribe’s patterns are generally complex reciprocal designs with a minimum of four colors. This is my guidepost to create my own embroidery designs. There is a Zen to doing the needlework. Thread colors are carefully chosen by instinct and the stitches decide on their own where to be applied. Hand embroidery is an unhurried endeavor, and the time taken to do the work allows for introspection and contemplation.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

I am a child of Minnesota lakes and rivers and am inspired by my relationship with the land, with my family and with my Tribe. I have hiked and backpacked several thousand miles in my lifetime, and the blueprints from winding rivers, whispering grasses, and dancing flowers have found their way into my artwork. My intention with my embroidered work is to merge contemporary threads and traditional notions to create new works showing strength, reciprocity and resilience.