Natesa Kappo is an emerging Nehiyaw artist from Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 8 Territory Alberta. Natesa combines traditional Nehiyaw art practices with contemporary stories of Indigenous people. She has a diploma in visual art and design from Northwestern Polytechnic and is completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and Design from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Natesa focuses on Indigenous arts, painting, textiles, film, and installation. Natesa has had group shows in various Alberta galleries and her work is owned by Northwestern Polytechnic.. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Louise McKinney Scholarship, and a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Artist Statement:
My work focuses on the multitude of issues that Indigenous women in Canada face, with a concentration on racial and gender based violence and the ways in which colonial patriarchy has infected Indigenous cultural practice. I conceptually explore the violence and oppression that Indigenous women have been subjected to through a lens that considers the importance of textiles in Indigenous cultural revival, sovereignty, and bodily autonomy. Indigenous arts and traditionally harvested materials are an integral part of my practice. They act as a representation of the Western European view of gendered labour division and sewing/ crafts as women’s work, or craft, and less than ‘fine’ art.

I believe that the combination of contemporary found materials and traditionally harvested materials sewn together mirrors the intersections that Indigenous women face in their lives and the inherent issues that come with wanting to use and learn your traditional knowledge while needing to live and work in the “white” world to survive. This series of work considers the cultural distance that I have faced upon moving to a larger urban centre and further away from my community and family. But, it also reinforces that the connection to my kin, ancestors, and homeland remain strong through the use of beads and rawhide rounds.

We acknowledge the support of the Province of Alberta through the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Canada Council for the Arts, the City of Grande Prairie, Grande Prairie Regional Tourism Association, Pomeroy Hotel, M3M Marketing and Town & Country News.