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.
Influenced by her Great Grandmother and namesake’s Cherokee heritage and stories, Mendoza revives and continues that legacy within her family after generational loss of cultural connection.
Her maternal grandmother’s frugal values, stemming from a depression era childhood, are also reflected in Mendoza’s practice by including repurposed and recycled personal, family and community items, as well as thrifted and found objects.
“My 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 my mind not only from my native ancestry, but also from a rural Kansas upbringing. I myself am a collage of cultures. I react by collaging materials from my ancestors, contemporary community, and personal life experiences.
My 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.
My research brings imagery abstracted from Southeastern beadwork and Cherokee basketry patterns into my work. Some utilize actual beading and sewing. Graphic design, fine art, and craft are all woven together in my studio, at times literally. Cultivating the joy that arises from cultural differences gives hope for future tribes, countries, and personal communities.”
Select Awards:
2025 1st & 2nd Place contemporary weaving/textiles, 3rd place watercolor/gouache,
Eiteljorg Indian Art Market, Indianapolis, IN
2025 1st place contemporary basketry, 30th Cherokee Homecoming Art Show,
Tahlequah, OK
2025 2nd place, 61st Annual Rennick Art Exhibition, Peoria Riverfront Museum,
Peoria, IL
2025 Honorable Mention, Fantastic Fibers, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
2025 Creative Catalyst Grant recipient, Illinois Arts Council
2025 Honorable mention in Basketry, 54th Annual Trail of Tears Art Show and
Sale, Tahlequah, OK
2025 Honorable mention in textiles, Art Under the Oaks, Five Civilized Tribes
Museum, Muskogee, OK
2024 1st Place contemporary weaving/textiles, Eiteljorg Indian Art Market,
Indianapolis, IN
2024 1st place Abstract Art, 55th Red Cloud Indian Art Show, The Heritage Center,
Pine Ridge, SD
2024 1st place contemporary basketry, 53rd Annual Trail of Tears Art Show and
Sale, Tahlequah, OK
2024 3rd place miniatures, 53rd Annual Trail of Tears Art Show and Sale,
Tahlequah, OK
2023 First Place Contemporary Basketry, 28th Annual Cherokee Homecoming
Show, Tahlequah, OK
2023 Merit Award in Diverse Arts, for drawing, 28th Annual Cherokee
Homecoming Show, Tahlequah, OK
2022 Honorable Mention, Spot on #3, juried by Doug Kacena, D’Art Gallery,
Denver, CO
2022 First Place Contemporary Basketry, 27th Annual Cherokee Homecoming Show,
Tahlequah, OK
2022 Operating Expenses Grant, for shipping costs, Fiber Art Now Magazine
2022 1st Place Emerging Artist, 51st Annual Trail of Tears Art Show and Sale,
Tahlequah, OK
2021 New American Painting, Midwest Issue #155, juried selection
2021 Sky Art Peoria, awarded a rotating billboard around Peoria and East Peoria, IL
2019 Dean’s Award: Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts, 2019
2010 Honorable Mention, Sandzen Memorial Gallery Juried Exhibition,
Lindsborg, KS
My list of exhibitions, publications, and other art-world achievements can be found on the ‘About’ page of my website.
Medium: Basketry, Beadwork, Painting, Textiles
I have a very multidisciplinary practice. These include:
Fiber Art, Painting, Drawing, Mixed media collage, Printmaking (intaglio and linocut), Beadwork, Embroidery, Contemporary basketry
Cherokee basketry patterns are widely used in my compositions, especially my fiber art practice (both wearable and non-wearable). My drawn and painted compositions feature patterns I’ve composed from Southeastern beadwork aesthetics. Dots and lines add texture while representing beads and stitches. Saturated and joyful colors feature heavily.
I illustrate personal narratives by inventing compositions driven by a theme or experience, translating them through the lens of abstracted patterns I’ve built out of my cultural research. These personal illustrations are a hybrid of being culturally grounded, while also not being raised in native community; a life influenced by various sources to the point of abstraction. There is a feel of beadwork or sewing, but the painting may contain neither. I view each piece I create as its own individual entity, yet all contributing to a visual language I am inventing. An aesthetic world that people of many cultural backgrounds can relate to or appreciate.
