Judith Lowry
Maidu/Pitt-River

Judith Lowry is a renowned painter living in Nevada City, California. The subject matter in her paintings comes from family stories, myths, cultural observations, and philosophical contemplation. She uses her paintings to reflect her culture’s and family’s history and to educate the public on the survival of American Indian culture. Her paintings are done in acrylic on large canvases where life-sizes figures glow in deep, rich colors. Through the use of symbolism and allegory, she addresses issues such as cross-cultural exchange, stereotypes of all kinds, women’s role in history, and the politics of religion. The influences of children's storybook illustrations, large-scale heroic mythological paintings, and painters like Blake, Breughel, and Bosch can all be found in her paintings. The allegorical way she uses these styles, however, is all her own and is expressed from a woman's point of view. Lowry’s images combine vivid color, resonant images and a wicked sense of humor to perhaps recover a little of what has been stolen, not just from her ancestors, but from all of us.