“I really look at things as time, because that’s all art really is. It’s about a process of time.“
Rooted in the story-rich landscapes of New Mexico, Jesse Littlebird’s work blends ancestral knowledge, contemporary culture, and a deep reverence for community. As an artist and gallery owner, Jesse approaches art not as product but as process, layered like time itself, grounded in Indigenous worldview, and propelled by an urge to honor the stories that shaped him. His practice is collaborative and place-centered, committed to nurturing and elevating community, and imagining futures that hold space for both tradition and experimentation. For Jesse, art is memory, possibility, and connection all at once, a lifelong conversation between land, people, and time.
Table of Contents
Among Storytellers
Jesse was raised in New Mexico inside a family shaped by poetry, storytelling, film, and creative practice. Narrative lived in daily life. Guests arrived from across the world to see his father. Conversations unfolded over meals and fires. Cultural exchange did not require travel. It existed in the rhythm of home.
“I feel very fortunate that I get to be an artist. I come from a long line of artisans and creators. I was always nurtured to take these stories and put them into the future.”
His father, Larry Littlebird, a Keres Pueblo man from Laguna and Santo Domingo Pueblos, was a master storyteller, artist, filmmaker, and educator who spent decades preserving Indigenous oral traditions and sharing them through programs like Learning to Listen and his work with Hamaatsa. Growing up surrounded by storytellers, culture keepers, and his father’s creative and community-driven work, Jesse learned that art is inseparable from life, memory, and connection.
Jesse’s creativity extends beyond the canvas. It appears in the opportunities he creates, the doors he opens, and the community he nurtures, carrying forward the lessons of observation, conversation, and ancestral practice he absorbed as a child.
Creation as a Continuum
Jesse is widely known as a painter, yet his practice moves beyond a single medium. Nothing begins with a strict plan. “I don’t ever think what I am doing is something new. I just think I am doing it now.”
Exploration shapes his work. Every project is an invitation to discover, to uncover possibilities while staying rooted in what has always been known. His pieces reflect on how the past informs the present and hints at what the future might hold. Rather than instruct, they offer guidance through observation and subtle insight, echoing the way knowledge unfolds in Indigenous teaching. Hip-hop has influenced him too, with its layering and sampling—honoring what came before while reshaping it for the present.
Jesse’s perspective is deeply cyclical. “I am always conscious of where we are in the timeline. I like to look at things from an Indigenous perspective, so less linearly and more cyclically. I really look at things as time, because that’s all art really is; it’s about a process of time.” This view carries through every medium he touches, every collaborative project, every shared experience.
New Mexico pulses through his work. The land is more than a backdrop; it is a teacher, a witness, and a keeper of memory. His landscapes evoke beginnings, continuity, and the quiet energy of life in motion. “I like to think the land holds its own memory. As humans, we often like to think we are the center of everything. But the land was here before us, and it will be here long after us.”
Across media, collaborations, and community projects, Jesse carries forward the lessons of observation, history, and ancestral practice, letting the land, his heritage, and the voices around him shape the work he makes today.
Centering Community
Jesse’s creative life does not end at his own canvas. His studio and gallery are living spaces, designed for others as much as for himself. Artists move through, conversations begin without an agenda, and collaboration becomes part of the daily rhythm.
He remembers the awe of visiting artists’ studios as a child and realizing art was not just an object, but a life. Today, those memories inform the openness of his own studio, just off one of downtown Albuquerque’s busiest streets, humming with foot traffic and energy.
“Studios are vital to a creative’s life. Each space holds its own energy, shaped by the people who pass through, the collaborations, the time in your life.”
This approach extends to his community gallery, Kukani. He sees it as a platform for voices that deserve space, not just those already recognized. Success, to Jesse, is never solitary. It is communal and cumulative, shaped by all the hands, voices, and histories around you.
“An artist’s career is collaborative, no matter what. I don’t think I would have any success as an individual without all the people who have collaborated with me and helped me along the way.”
“Good things are always going to happen if you continue to stay in the studio.”
Carrying Storytelling Into the Future
To Jesse, New Mexico has always been a crossroads of creativity, and Albuquerque in particular feels poised for a shift. He sees the city as a place where contemporary Indigenous and multicultural art can thrive and reach a global audience.
For other aspiring artists, Jesse emphasizes risk, persistence, and self-trust. “Take a lot of risks and always bet on yourself and your talent. Things will not always pay off, but good things happen when you continue to stay in the studio.” He also encourages artists to find their own path among the advice they receive, always learning from the advice they did take, or perhaps shouldn’t have ignored.
Like most individuals, Jesse hopes to have an impact, but through his contributions to his community, rather than ego-driven success. He hopes to create pieces and projects that reflect Albuquerque’s creative moment while supporting underrepresented artists and giving space to voices that deserve recognition. Longevity has become his measure of success.
“Ultimately, I want to be known as a good member of the community, a good relative. People should know they can come to me if they need guidance, if they want to express something, or if they just want to create together. That is the impact I hope to have.”
Want to experience Jesse’s work firsthand? Find upcoming events and exhibitions on ABQToDo.
Acknowledgments
Art Every Day Of The Week
When you start to look, you’ll see art everywhere in Albuquerque. Use this calendar to find an arts and culture event near you. Take a friend, bring your kids, or go on your own. Become a part of the arts and culture community in Albuquerque. You’ll be glad you did.
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