Hattie Lee Mendoza
Cherokee
Artist Bio
Hattie Lee Mendoza is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up in Fowler, Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has an MFA from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and a BA in graphic design from Tabor College, Hillsboro, KS. Mendoza has been published in the #155 Midwest Issue of New American Paintings, Excellence in Fibers VII & VIII by Fiber Art Now, and Art Focus Winter Issue 2024. She has been in exhibitions in in thirteen states, with two 2024 solo exhibitions in Oklahoma at Oklahoma State University and Cameron University. She also had work in Expo Chicago 2024, with the Center for Native Futures gallery, coinciding with her work exhibited in their inaugural group exhibition in downtown Chicago. Awards include an Honorable Mention at D’Art Gallery’s “Spot On #3”, Denver, CO, First Place Basketry in the juried 52nd Trail of Tears Art Show as well as First Place in Contemporary Basketry and Merit Awards in Diverse Arts at the 27th & 28th Annual Cherokee Homecoming Art Show in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation capitol. One of her mixed media collages will also become permanent display in the American Studies department of Notre Dame University, summer of 2024.
As a member of the Cherokee Nation, Hattie’s process is a personal expression of the Native American Diaspora. Indigenous peoples were inventive with resources as they were removed from native homelands to new environments. Resourcefulness is instilled in her mind not only from native ancestry, but also from a rural Kansas upbringing. Mendoza is a collage of cultures and reacts by collaging materials from ancestors, contemporary community, and personal life experiences. Her studio is a flux of mediums and objects in constant conversation: a gouache painting is printed on fabric, which is collaged, then informs a piece of wearable art, or inspires the composition of a new gouache painting. Nothing is off-limits to being repurposed and reimagined. Mendoza’s research of traditional arts brings imagery abstracted from beadwork patterns into her work. Some works utilize actual beading and sewing. Graphic design, fine art, and craft are all woven together in the studio, at times literally. Cultivating the joy that arises from cultural differences gives hope for future tribes, countries, and personal communities.
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