Tatakwan Arts

‘Art-World’ people – there’s a note for you at the bottom of the page.

Introduction
Tansi, hello. My name is Jude Norris.
My Cree name is Kehiyow Tatakwan Awasis.
(Eagle Wing Child in English, Tatakwan, which means wing, for short).
Officially and genetically, I’m Plains Cree Metis.
(For those who don’t know, ‘Metis’ are people of mixed-blood ancestry.
Of coarse this is true of many, if not most, First Nations people today).My ancestors are Plains Cree, Anishnawbe, Little Russian, and Scottish Gypsy.
I’m proud of all of my heritage, and know all of my ancestors’ blood
is strong and combines to make me who I am.
Yet in culture, spirit, perspective – and therefore being – I am Nehiyoweskweyow.
A Plains Cree woman.
(The ‘PC’ term for this, if you’re not familiar, is my ‘cultural affiliation’).

A foot in each world
As an Indigenous woman and artist,
my love, respect, and connection with my Cree culture and heritage,
and tribal culture in general, are an ever-present
foundation and inspiration in my life and work.

I’m also part and product of the Western society and era I was born and live within.
I see this culture as seriously wanting and troubled in terms of being healthy or
sustainable in its current form, but I also understand it has so much potential
and room for growth.

There has been so much damage inflicted by ‘Western’ colonial people, process,
intention and action. And yet there are also aspects of it that are so rich,
well-intentioned, beautiful and inspirational.

I was captivated by much historical and contemporary Western art and architecture
from a very young age, and began and embraced my arts practice and studies
well before I was reconnected with my own Indigenous culture.

These two cultures are very different, yet also contain overlaps,
and are influencing and changing one another, in both negative and positive ways.
They are both separate and entwined.
My work reflects both the dichotomies & connections between these two,
my strong interest in both, and for culture in general,
and in how the disparities may be resolved and evolved
into something more nurturing and rewarding for all.

Materials & Qualities of My Work
I’m a truly ‘mulit-media’ artist.
I really use whatever feels and works best at the time
and for the expression of an idea.

Most of the elements of my work have symbolic or cultural meaning.
They also intended to create visual impact, interest and/or pleasure.
I combine the traditional with the technical, and the organic with the manufactured.

Some qualities of my work include sensuality, circularity, and  a focus on relationships.
I strive to create artwork that is unique, even off-the-wall, and yet elegant.
And I do my best to breathe & weave cultural values into everything I create.

This site contains more of my painting, 2D and craft-based work.
To see my video/installation & sculptural work go to www.JudeNorris.com .

Layers of Media & Material Create Layers Meaning
There are layers of meaning & understanding in my work.
You can peel away & explore the layers – depending how deep you want to go.
Depending on who you are, and where you come from,
you might get quite a different understanding than another person.
Art can’t help but be a reflection of life, and isn’t life just like that?

Relationships & Creation
I see everything in life as about relationships – with the earth,
land and environment, other people and beings, culture, gender,
society, technology, the spirit world,
and most importantly – ourselves and the Creator.

I also see and appreciate that everything in the natural world is created
in beautiful, sensual, co-operative and just truly amazing forms.
I think this is the Creator’s way of rejoicing.
I try to reflect this kind of awareness in my art, and give all my creation
deep reflection and that kind of joyful foundation.

Native World/Western World
One part of my work is using objects, images, materials and concepts
that are connected with Native American culture.
The connections can be symbolic,  direct, or part of racial stereotypes.
Or they could be all of these at once.
I combine them with elements of European-based (‘Western’) art practices, language, and culture.

I do this is as a way to explore and express cross-cultural communication,
friction, meshing, and evolution.
The co-existence of Indigenous and Immigrant culture brings up both
positive and negative situations and possibilities.
I can’t avoid being immersed in this dynamic.

This isn’t always such a light situation or topic. But thankfully, it intrigues me.
Experiencing and envisioning both the results and potentials
of colonization and beyond – well really I think its everything.
The most important subject and conversation there is.
One way or another, it includes all of us,
and is ultimately about ourselves, our growth and our connection.

Embracing and Exploring It All
So in life and in art I’m navigating, exploring and expressing
emotion, questioning and quest, realization, and vision.
The variety of feelings, challenges, achievements, growth
and states of being that life brings and offers.
Awe, joy, sadness, gratitude, anger, grief, forgiveness, appreciation,
confusion, inspiration, discouragement, hope, pride, excitement,
passion, playfulness, mystification, celebration
- they all go into my work.

It may not always be obvious at first glance,
but you can find all that, and more,
depending on how you choose to look, and how deep.

Gatherings and Placements
In some of my artworks, I use objects and images gathered
from the land and animals.
I gather them or render them, bringing them out of their natural environment
and putting them into art-world or high-tech situations.
An example is taking an actual root or antler, and turning into a sculpture.
Or taking a photo of a wild animal and digitally transforming it into
an organic-looking painting.

I do these things partly to emphasize and celebrate
the stunning physical beauty found in the natural world.
I also see it as my present day version of ‘hunting and gathering’.

But the ‘misplacement’ of these beings, or aspects of them, also explores
where we and ‘all our relations’ belong in relationship to each other,
especially within our quickly changing reality.
In a gallery or digital format, deer antlers or plains bison are out of their worlds.
They may seem misplaced. Or they may seem ‘exotic’
because they aren’t associated with those environments.

In Western culture, everything is separated.
So beings or things that are obviously from the natural world
can feel foreign, out of place, or on show when brought into
an urban, art-world, or technical environment.
But we, and everything, are all from and part of nature.
So why should something from the natural world be ‘out of place’ in an
environment or format that is fundamentally about creative energy and action?

Of course, there is a great deal of value of knowing
ones place and purpose in the world.
Creatures know this inherently and would have no problem
being true to their calling if it weren’t for human interference.

I overstand they each have their own
unique environment and role to play within it.
My creative ‘misplacements’ are symbolic and intended as an exploration.

Collaborate and Celebrate vs Copy or Capture
Animals and the landscape, and even Native people, have been
the subject  or ‘object of’ a lot of Western art. So have women.
Needless to say this part of art history is expressive of the society it comes from.

I see those artworks as ‘captures’, as opposed to ‘collaborations’.
They often feel more like trophies, or celebrations of compartments,
rather than celebrations of community.

I approach my work involving plants or animals as collaborations.
We’re all part of a community.
Those antlers, roots (or whatever natural world material or creation)
are already stunning examples of creative force and invention.
Part of their ‘job’ is functional, but another important part of
their job is to be beautiful to us.

I certainly can’t outdo the level of artistry of say, an antler.
I don’t feel like I can do justice to the beauty of an animal by trying to copy it.
All I could hope to gain by that is knowledge and awe.
That’s no small thing, so I’m not going to knock it.
But the road I’m most comfortable with is to be involved with,
to collaborate, to celebrate, to honor.

Even in my figurative work, I tend base everything on
some kind of photo-generated source image.
This is not because I can’t draw it if I choose to. I can and I have.
(I’m considering adding some of my realist paintings here on the site soon).

I’m good at it, but I’ve never felt entirely comfortable with it.
In the end, I always have to ask why.
Why try to re-invent something that was made by the most adept artist of all?
Gitchi Manitou. The Great Spirit, The Great Mystery, the Great Artist.
The ultimate creative source and force.

I often have the very human experience of being deeply touched
by our relatives in the natural world.
Wanting to respond, I’m always left with the same feeling.
The most fitting avenue I can take is to be reverent but involved – and celebrate.

Mixing it Up with Soft Native Technology
One of the relationships I’m most interested in is with technology.
Today, the world over, disrespect and imbalance in this relationship is
right up in our face. Its threatening our very existence.

There is so much for Westerners to learn from Indigenous people on this subject,
if only people are ready to ask – and listen.
Indigenous use of technology is widely misunderstood and underestimated.
We’re actually adept & sophisticated in our use of what I call ‘soft technology’,
and we’ve always incorporated new media and technology into our cultures.
I write about this more in the mini-E-book “Spirits in the Machines: Contemporary Native Creative Expression”, which you can download as a free gift.

Obviously our relationship with technology is crucial,
and my concern with balancing it permeates my work.
I take the natural-world materials and subjects, and mix them up with
cutting-edge media and/or technology, like digital imaging/software and/or video.
I try to use technology from both cultures in a way that’s at once
traditional-minded, innovative and exemplary.

Digital Paintings
I’ve developed a unique style of painting
that is either partially or completely digital.
I take all the concepts and techniques developed in years of school and painting
practice and incorporate them into my use of digital brushes, tools and filters.

I can achieve the same level of technique, subtlety, style and use of color
with paint or pixels. It’s equally interesting and challenging, and
I’m just as excited with the results.
Follow this link to see and read about my digital painting.

Color
Color plays an important role in much of my work.
It plays the double role of being symbolic and creating emotional response.
Primary colors may represent both the medicine wheel (a Native cultural symbol)
and be incorporated using the color wheel (a Western painting tool).

Silver and gold reflect our relationships with Western technology, minerals,
the earth, wealth, greed, preciousness, and even alchemy.

Repetition, Affirmation & Cultural Legacy
The repetitive and painstaking process involved in some of my artwork
is aligned with the roles that repetition and trial play in ritual and ceremony.

In Cree culture, spiritual journey often requires courage
and physical stamina or sacrifice.
Sometimes my work is similar, requiring great effort to create.
For example, for The Most Beautiful Things,
I beaded an affirmation into a twenty foot long bead work banner.

I’ve used affirmations a lot in my work.
They are a symbol of healing through retraining our minds in a positive direction.
They are sometimes a remnant of my own personal process,
like in Gratitude Code Root Mural.
And sometimes they are also a play on words or ideas,
like the writing on Braver Antler
and other pieces in my antler and root series.

The carefulness I take in making my work is also a way of acknowledging
the many, many generations of creative Native women who’ve come before me.
There is a wonderful legacy in our traditional creative practices and attitude.
They contain deep patience, knowledge and cultural relevance.

Language
Language also plays a strong role in my work in other ways.
In Native Culture respect for the wisdom of our elders is very important.
One of the things I’ve heard Elders say is that
our culture is contained in our language.
It’s an expression of the land and the people.
For everyone, language is a way of conceiving
and expressing our perception of the world.

Native American language loss is a big issue.
Out of hundreds of Indigenous languages,
almost all are struggling to survive.

I’m one of many who don’t speak my language.
No matter how much I might learn about my culture,
I know I can never truly understand without being fluent in the language.

And yet, outside of a few isolated and often destitute
communities and environments, we don’t have much opportunity
to be immersed in our languages enough to learn them.

Many people are faced with two choices.
Stay in their community, where their language may be spoken, or leave
in order to have a chance at different kinds of success. These choices are
mutually exclusive when it comes to learning language, especially for youth.
More and more language programs are being implemented in urban centers.
Hopefully they will help to save Indigenous languages.

I do have a small vocabulary of Cree, and for many artworks or series I make,
I try to learn at least one more word.
I include the word, and sometimes the process, in the artwork.
Sometimes I record the language and have it audible in the artwork.
The Definition of Bear, The Most Beautiful Things
and Sohkatisiw Iskwewasakay (Strong Woman Dress) are like this.
My language is beautiful, and I like people to hear it, and be aware of it,
even if they don’t understand it.

I also incorporate the written word – both English and Cree,
into some of my beadwork.
In The Most Beautiful Things, I beaded a positive affirmation right into the
huge ‘medicine wheel’ beadwork banner that circles the whole piece.
I also use language in a series of beaded chokers and bracelets called ‘word’.

Traditionally, Native languages and knowledge were passed down aurally.
Nothing was written down – although now we have developed
a Cree system of syllabic writing. In contrast,
English and other Western European languages and cultures are very literary.
This is one way we have two very different approaches to things.
So I also use  Plains Cree and English language as reflections of the
contrasting world-views of aural and literary based cultures.

Sharing, Process and Reality Loops
My creative process is very intuitive. I love this element of my work because
it often contains surprises and teachings for me, and hopefully for others.
I consider much of my creative inspiration to be a gift from the spirit world,
the creative unconscious, or whatever you might choose to call it.

As you can tell, material and craftswomanship are important in my work.
Equally important are instinct, continuation, commitment, respect,
humor (usually subtle), positive-mindedness, celebration and sharing.
I often share the creative and personal process in my artwork.

For example, Nēhiyawēwin (Cree language) is usually present in a directly
expressive way (it describes something in the artwork),
but also as an opportunity to share.
I’m learning some of my language, and sharing that process.
I’m also sharing my love of a language that I don’t even speak – and the sense of
longing, loss, challenge, and excitement that goes with that.

Sometimes I’ll shoot video of myself making an artwork
– then put the video footage right into the same artwork.
This creates what I call a ‘reality loop’.
The process of the creating artwork becomes a (visual) part of itself.
They are physically and symbolically one.
(See Imperfect Doll and The Most Beautiful Things)

Technology and the Native Storytelling Tradition
There’s always a story behind an artwork.
In the old days, when our communities were smaller and tighter knit,
a person would have sat and told the story that went with a creative work or
ceremonial object. Then story might have been passed down through generations.
Often these things were considered to belong to the whole tribe or band,
and they and their stories held great value for everyone.

Of course some artwork can be enjoyed on its own – just by looking at it.
In Western culture, its more common think art can or should be able
to be appreciated that way, with no explanation.
I think that can be true and not true.
There are many different kinds of art, and different levels of understanding.
In some art, what you see is what you get. Other art is more complex,
or tells its story in different ways, all at once.
Or it might even tell more than one story.

But like I’ve said, literal or not, there’s always a story.
One reason I’m loving the internet is because
it allows a variety of communications to happen side by side.
Now we can easily share the art and the story that goes with it, together.
The artwork and its story become more a part of each other.
They enrich each other.
And they can be easily available to you, and many other people around the world.

This changes our relationship to art, and to each other.
Technology is now changing what community means and is.
And it can create big changes in who enjoys art and how.

Good Medicine: Power and Responsibility, Challenge and Celebration
Like anything with power, technology can affect us in negative or positive ways.
The same is true of money, medicine, personal or political power, and even art.

We have a choice, learning process, and responsibility
around the kind of relationships we create and maintain.
This is especially important when it comes to things of power.
It’s not a thing’s power that’s the problem,
but the choices we make in regards to it.
As human beings, this is crucial.

The creative process involves imagining or dreaming,
and then bringing that vision into being.
That creation’s ability to have impact on ourselves and/or others is its power.
This ability to make our dreams into reality is also a definition of power.

Our creations can encourage, support, inspire and
create understanding and growth. I know that a work of art can touch us.
If it can touch us, it can change us. This means art even has the potential to heal.
That is the power I am responsible for.
It is with these things in mind that I bring my work into being.

Rather, they are just plain and simple words that can be easily understood by all.
I understand that art-world language certainly has its place and its merit,
but in this case, I don’t find that using a more universal voice
in any way discredits my intention, work or vision.

And yes, I am unabashedly marketing and selling my work on this site.
And in doing that, also using language and approach that is
not commonly part of the art-world.
I know this could be seen as kind of taboo in some ‘high art’ circles.
If this means I have to or come to be seen as a ‘low-artist’ – so be it.
(Perhaps this will bring me in closer relationship to the earth LOL!)

I take this approach now because, as much as I love and appreciate certain aspects
of that artsy environment and its cliques, I also have my dissatisfactions with it.
I’m not finding the current position of the arts – or my art – within
society as optimal, comfortable or beneficial as I feel it has the potential to be,
and believe this to be symptomatic of some non-holistic and therefore potentially unhealthy, unrewarding or unsustainable elements of Western culture.

Hopefully this approach doesn’t offend your sensibilities or alliances, and/or
stand in the way of your appreciation of my work.
But of course ultimately that’s not something I can control.

I have work to share with the world, and I’m committed to exploring, expanding,
and/or creating my own  - sometimes unfamiliar – ways and path(s) to do that.
I must do this with as much open-mindedness, integrity,
playfulness and inspiration as I can.
I hope you can join me in that, whatever your relationship to and notion of
art and/or the ‘art-world’ may be or have been.

For more ‘art-speaky’ language in relation to my work,
try my other site www.judenorris.com.
(Though I also intend that site & work to be accessible to everyone,
including those ‘outside’ the art-world, especially after having had
some insight into my work through this site..)

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