Steven L Thorsen
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Steven L Thorsen (also known professionally as SL Thorsen and SL; born September 11th, 1953) is a Modern Contemporary Native American painter. He is known for his fluid, and bold expressions of color in his paintings.
Among the tribal Nations, SL is known as “Painted Bear”. SL's artwork appeared on the cover of the 2003 Reservation Economic Summit & American Indian Business Trade Fair Business Directory.
In 2003 SL's paintings were auctioned for charity at the Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles, California, for the tribute to Bono of the rock band U2. The following year, SL attended the 2004 Grammy Awards honoring Sting as the Music Cares person of the year.
The painting "Shadow Warrior" appeared in the 2004 Music Cares book awarding Sting.
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[edit] Early life
SL Thorsen, a member of the White Earth Ojibwa (Chippeway) Tribe, was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. His father of Swedish decent, and mother a Native American of the Chippewa tribe. SL attended Portland Community College, where he studied jewelry design. From the age of 23, he attended “The Bassett”, an art and design college for apparel design in Portland, Oregon. SL spent his early twenties traveling back and forth to Hawaii and Florida. As well as to New York and Los Angeles. After years of living in New York, in the early eighties, SL decided to settle in Beverly Hills Los Angeles, where he has resided for the past twenty years.
[edit] The Indigo Series
The Indigo Series is a series of paintings that SL developed from 2003-2005. The series was inspired by a book that SL read called The Indigo Children by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober. SL’s Indigo paintings are the result of his vision to create a visual understanding reflecting love, tolerance, harmony, and balance. The term Indigo refers to a spiritual belief and a conscious as a whole. According to Carroll, those born after 1974 have come with an enlightened viewpoint, possessing gifts that help the planet heal through love.
Copyright © 2007 SL Thorsen Indigo 9 - Painting from the "Indigo Series" by SL.
Copyright © 2005 SL Thorsen "Blue Lady"
Bill Mercer of the Portland Art Museum – Curator of Native American Arts – described SL’s work as “Stylistically and ideologically free to explore the cutting edge of the New Native Artist, while his bold colors are deeply rooted in his heritage.” More recently, SL’s paintings have been described close to Fauvism. Developed in France in the early 20th Century. Fauvists simplified lines and exaggerated subject matter using bold colors to create shape and form. Famous fauvists included Henri Matisse.
[edit] Personal life
SL currently resides with his partner Jacqueline Hudson. The couple met in 2004, and have shared a very creative lifestyle together. Including a variety of art showings in California and in the Pacific NW.
