Lillian Pitt is a Native American artist from the Warm Springs, Wasco, and Yakama tribes who lives in Oregon. She incorporates traditional Northwest tribal art forms like rock carvings, basketry, and legends into her contemporary sculptures, prints, jewelry, and other mixed media. Pitt aims to honor her ancestors who have lived in the Columbia River Gorge for over 10,000 years through her artwork, while making the styles appealing to modern audiences. She draws inspiration from nature and tribal stories that have been passed down for generations.

1. Featured Northwest Artist and
Art of
Lillian Pitt

2. Whose the Artist?
Lillian Pitts is a Pacific Northwest Native
American artist whose ancestors lived in
and near the Columbia River Gorge for
over 10,000 years
She was born in 1943 on the Warm Spring
reservation and is the descendent of
Wasco, Yakima and Warm Springs people
She received her Associates of Arts from
Mount Hood Community College and has
been displayed in exhibits and art galleries
throughout the Northwest since 1982, and
is internationally known.

3. Her journey as an Artist:
“I was already in my 30’s, and already an artist,
before I knew that my ancestors lived in the
Columbia River Gorge for more than 10,000 years.
Imagine. That's 8,000 years before the time of
Christ, and 6,000 years before the time of the
Great Pyramids at Giza! My family never spoke
about it, because when I was growing up, it was
better for our survival to try and cover up the fact
that we were Indian. But today I can tell you that
I'm proud of who I am and who my people are.
We're known as Warm Springs, Wasco (Watalas)
and Yakama (Wishxam) — Indian people of the
Pacific Northwest. We call ourselves the River
People. “ she sais.

5. Help along the way:
It is the friends and creative spirits
she has met who have attributed to
her success as an Artist and in life.
“Now, I try to return the favor, by
teaching as many people as I
can about the things that I know, and
by helping them along their own paths
in whatever ways I can. “ she sais.

6. The process in her own words
“We didn't talk much about my ancestors when I was growing
up, because my father thought I could have a better life if I
wasn't so Indian. So when I was a new artist, I didn't really
know all that much about the traditional arts of my people.
I wasn't even all that sure as to whether or not I wanted to be
an "Indian" artist, or just an artist.
But then an elder took me to see the rock carvings and
paintings created thousands of years ago by my ancestors,
and I was hooked. I couldn't get over how interesting these
rock images were.
So since then, I've spent a lot of time learning about my
ancestors and studying the designs that they created ... their
rock carvings, their baskets, beaded bags, dresses, the tools
they used ... you name it, I've tried to learn about it all.
But there's so much ... I don't think I could ever learn about
10,000 years of art in just one lifetime.
Still, my goal is to incorporate as best I can, the traditional
Native American arts of my ancestors into the contemporary
art that I create for people living in these modern times.”

8. What kind of art do you create?
Primarily a sculptor and mixed media artist that makes creative use
of whatever materials are available and appropriate to the task at
hand
Artistic expressions in clay, bronze, wearable art, prints, and most
recently, glass
She sais, “Regardless of the medium, my work directly relates to
and honors my ancestors, my people, the environment and the
animals. This maintains my link with tradition and acknowledges the
many contributions my ancestors have made to this world “
Contemporary works of fine art that delight today’s art lovers, and at
the same time, honor the history and legends of her people

11. Clay

12. “Nothing gives me more pleasure than to
get my hands working in clay. I feel totally
at one with the story I want to tell when I tell
it in clay ... the conflicts, the joys, the
sorrows and the awe ... all of these feelings
can come out when I work in clay. I get
attached to each and every clay piece I
create, because they each take on their
own unique identity. I'm a Native American
artist, and I love the idea of working in
media that have "diverse" origins ...
including raku, anagama, and porcelain.”
She sais.

13. Prints and Tapestry

14. Bronze Sculpture

15. Jewelery

16. "I love making jewelry and I love wearing it. As with all of the art I create,
my goal is always to create something that appeals to contemporary
people, and at the same time, represents something special about my
Columbia River Native American heritage.
Like me, my ancestors loved to wear jewelry, as well as other forms of
"wearable art" including beaded belts, beaded bags, moccasins,
pendants and other things that could be worn. For them, jewelry, and
other forms of wearable art, were signs of distinction ... just like it is
today — and the more of it that someone wore, the more distinguished
the person was." sais Lillian

17. Glass

18. "My glass sculptures are especially important to me because of the
spiritual and other-worldy effects I'm able to achieve using this
medium.
Other people may see somthing different in my glass, but to me
personally, my "cast" glass is about depth and richness of meaning,
and my "fused" glass is about layers of existence... but they're
similar in the sense that they're both about allowing people a way to
literally see into the world of my ancestors.
And if people look long and hard enough, they may actually see an
ancestor looking back at them! "

19. Tiles

20. More about Lillian's art in her own
words:
Just about all the art I create is based on the traditional arts of my
ancestors and on the legends that have been handed down by my
people from generation to generation.
"
My goal is to make the characters in these legends come alive, and to
make the images they incorporated into their arts appeal to
contemporary tastes.
So my art features the Creator's right-hand man Coyote, who helped
the Creator make the world and helped the Creator teach people
about the way things should be. And it features a host of other
characters and stories as well ... She Who Watches, the
Huckleberry Sisters, Salmon, Eagle and Owl ... and many more.
My intention is always to honor the stories of my ancestors, as well as
to educate and entertain people just as the stories of my ancestors
have done for so many thousands of years."

21. Contact and Contents courtesy
of:
Lillian Pitt
11528 S.E. Lincoln Street Portland, Oregon 97216
503 252-1854
lillianpitt@hevanet.com
www.lillianpitt.com