mnartists.org: Gwen Westerman

We Are Here

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:32:29 GMT

Mitakuye Owas (All My Relations)

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:26:40 GMT

2012 First Place, 2012 Northern Plains Indian Art Market, Quilt Division

Buffalo Ridge

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:26:17 GMT

2012 In the permanent collection of the Red Cloud Heritage Museum, Pine Ridge, SD

Caske's Pardon

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:25:54 GMT

2012 In the permanent collection of the Minnesota Historical Society

Sundance 4

Gwen Westerman — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:21:34 GMT

Sundance 3

Gwen Westerman — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:21:19 GMT

Sundance 2

Gwen Westerman — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:20:42 GMT

Sundance 1

Gwen Westerman — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:19:43 GMT

Waci Au / Song for the Horses

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:19:00 GMT

Quilt, 44" x 48", 100% cotton with shell embellishments, hand quilted. 2010 This piece portrays the story of how horses were sent to the people by the Creator. They came dancing.

Anpetu Sapa Win

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:33:18 GMT

Created for "Original Green: An exhibit of contemporary American Indian art" (2010) Quilt. 36"W x 42"L, 100% commercial and hand-dyed cotton with shell and bead embellishments. Anpetu Sapa Win means "Dark Day Woman" in Dakota. There is a legend that she went over the falls with her son in a canoe because her husband took another wife. The background fabric was hand-dyed through a process called snow-resist and is the same as that used in "Otokaheya" and "Owamniyomni." The figure of a woman was apparent to me as I worked on this piece; however, viewers see many more faces and figures in the sky than I did. One of the flour companies had an ad campaign in the late 1800s called "Eventually" which was a sign above the mill. The edges of the buildings in skyline are sewn with jagged edges as if the buildings are crumbling. The falls are barely visible. Along the shoreline of the Stone Arch Bridge are fresh-water oyster shells from the river behind my home in southern Minnesota. These oysters are no longer found in the Minnesota or Mississippi rivers because of pollution. "Eventually," the rivers will someday be clean enough again for fresh-water oysters, the buildings will be gone, and our Dakota stories will remain.

image: Eventually

Owamniyomni

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:24:19 GMT

Created for "Original Green: An exhibit of contemporary American Indian Art" (2010). 36"W x 42"L 100% commercial and hand-dyed cotton, with bead and shell embellishments. Owamni Omni means "whirlpool" in Dakota. This is the original name for St Anthony Falls, with Spirit Island in the foreground and a Dakota village on the opposite bank. The falls are made with the same fabric from "Otokaheya" but are smaller as time has progressed. The shells along the lower right side are from Pike Island where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers converge.

image: Dakota village

Otokaheya (In the Beginning)

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:18:32 GMT

Created for "Original Green: An Exhibit of contemporary American Indian Art" (2010). Otokaheya means "at the beginning" in Dakota. This is how I imagine St Anthony Falls might have looked 10,000 years ago when it was closer to the St Paul area. 36"W x 42"L made of of 100% cotton hand-dyed fabric with bead and dryer sheet embellishments. The fabric was created through a process called snow-resist dyeing. In keeping with the "Original Green" theme of incorporating recycled materials in our work, the foam and spray at the base of the falls is made from used dryer sheets.

image: StAnthonyFalls Detail

Floyd's Star

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:16:56 GMT

Ina / For My Mother

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:15:43 GMT

“Ina / For My Mother” (2005) Quilt, 66”W x 66”L 100% commercial cotton with bead embellishments; hand quilted. In many indigenous traditions, the turtle represents our mother earth. In Dakota, “Ina” means not only our Mother Earth, but also our human mother. In my mother’s family, her father and his siblings all had water animal names. His name was Yah-skv-nv-hi, or “Hard Shelled Turtle.” My mother collected turtles, and when she began dialysis, I started this quilt for her. This piece is an adaptation of a traditional American quilting pattern known as Drunkard’s Path, or as the Amish call it, Solomon’s Puzzle or Old Maid’s Puzzle. The English know it as Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.

image: Ina Detail

Night Wind

Gwen Westerman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:14:13 GMT

First Place, Quilt Division 2006 Northern Plains Indian Art Market Sioux Falls, South Dakota Best of Division, Quilts 2007 Heard Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market Phoenix, Arizona

image: NightWind Detail