Randi Nelson Designs

About

Randi Nelson is a Secwépemc artist and fashion designer, and a member of the Bonaparte/St’uxwtéws First Nation. Now based in Whitehorse, Yukon, she is celebrated for her distinct artistic style, a product of her upbringing in a family that stressed the importance of harnessing creativity from the natural world.

The jewelry and other wearable art designs that Randi creates are inspired by her love of nature and its beauty. She draws inspiration from the changing seasons, handpicking flowers, berries, and leaves to create unique floral patterns for each piece. The colours of the plants and their shades inform the selection of beads, gemstones, and hand-dyed caribou hair for her jewelry and other wearable art pieces ensuring a perfect match.

Randi’s work is often in sync with the changing seasons, requiring swift observation to capture and create pieces while each flora is in bloom. This process aids Randi in identifying and studying various plants, appreciating their transient beauty and developing respect for the knowledge they possess.

In addition to her personal artistic endeavors, Randi is dedicated to teaching others and sharing her artistic and cultural knowledge. She regularly holds beading circles and workshops open to anyone who would like to learn. Her work has been recognized and is included in the Yukon Permanent Art Collection and owned by art collectors worldwide.

Like her culture, Randi’s art is a blending of two worlds. She combines European patterns and antique beads with traditional Indigenous smoked hide, quills, shells and caribou hair. Inspired by the natural world around her, she creates detailed replicas of nature found only in a particular season. She uses various media to capture the detail, texture, colour and feelings of each plant or other resource so that it can be appreciated long after the moment has passed.

Randi Nelson is an Indigenous fashion designer and artist from the Yukon, recognized for her innovative work that integrates traditional materials and techniques with contemporary fashion. As a descendant of a long line of strong Secwépemc women who have created beautiful art with their hands, Randi is deeply committed to preserving and sharing traditional Indigenous art forms. Over the past decade, her focus has been on beading, which has become a central aspect of her artistic expression.

Although much of her knowledge has been self-taught, Randi was privileged to study with numerous knowledge keepers, including completing a mentorship under Métis artist Lynette La Fontaine in August 2022. In April 2024, she undertook a mentorship with Haida cedar weaver Marlene Liddle on Haida Gwaii, learning the traditional techniques to strip, process, and weave with cedar. She has also been fortunate to learn from and share with other artists through on-the-land and hide tanning camps, Indigenous Sewing Circles, and events such as the Bead, Hide, and Fur Symposium in Whitehorse (2019/2020/2023) and the annual Adäka Cultural Festival in 2022 and 2023.

In 2020, Randi was chosen to receive a Yukon Advanced Artist Award. She used this funding to connect with recognized Métis artists in a mentorship capacity to further her skills in Indigenous floral artwork, including color, composition, and flora anatomy. Gaining knowledge from artists who have successfully navigated Indigenous floral artwork was critical in expanding and accelerating her artistic growth.

Her significant accomplishments include receiving the 2020 Yukon Advanced Artist Award, the 2023 Indigenous Artists and Cultural Carriers Micro-grant, and the 2023 Canada Council for the Arts Grant. Her garment, named Winter Solstice Stole, was purchased for the Yukon Permanent Arts Collection in 2021. She was also selected as an adjudicator for the Yukon Cranberry Fair in 2022. Additionally, her jewelry pieces were featured in the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival 2022 campaign poster and prominently displayed in advertisements for Manitobah's 2022 and 2023 collections. Her work was worn by judge Sarain Fox on Canada’s Drag Race in 2022 and 2024, and by Jillian Dion at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival event for "Killers of the Flower Moon." Randi designed earrings that were worn on the 2024 Oscars Red Carpet by Jillian Dion. A gown with matching earrings she designed was worn on the 2024 Junos Red Carpet by Sarain Fox. Randi has had the honor of designing and creating numerous custom shawls for clients to recognize special occasions such as graduations and weddings. She considers each piece to be a unique heirloom that will be treasured by the owners for generations to come.

Randi participated in her first runway fashion show at the Adäka Cultural Festival in 2022, which ignited a passion in her to design more fashion art pieces and participate in larger runway shows outside the Yukon. She is currently designing a new runway fashion collection that will debut at Indigenous Fashion Arts on June 2, 2024, in Toronto. Her seven fashion looks, titled Kwúlécwtn—To Adorn Oneself, include mixed media wearable art pieces incorporating beadwork, shells, hides, fish skins, and cedar weaving in celebration of her Indigenous heritage. Randi is excited to continue exploring new ways to integrate her Indigenous values into her designs while pushing boundaries in the fashion industry.