SL Thorsen, a member of the White Earth Ojibwa (Chippewa) Tribe, was born and raised in Portland, Oregon.

After years of living in New York City and Beverly Hills, and traveling abroad to Europe and a long stay on the island of Santorini, Greece, he has returned home to Portland to live in the "best, little city with a true heartbeat."

SL is a self-taught artist, having first worked in stone tile design for commercial architecture, until eventually finding his love of canvas and the joy of working with colorful acrylics.

His canvases refuse to settle comfortably into an established category, but most certainly do place him among his postmodern peers as a true contemporary fauvist and colorist.

This is evidenced by the recent exhibit collected by the Portland Art Museum under the enthusiastic leadership of Native American Art Curator, Bill Mercer. The exhibit was titled 'New Native Art: Beyond Beads and Feathers', which was hailed in the Oregonian as a “modest milestone that announces the presence of these Native American artists to the public. "SL's work is stylistically and ideologically free to explore the cutting edge of the New Native Artist, while his bold colors and spiritual inspirations are deeply rooted in his Native American heritage."

As corporate buyers and private collectors have embraced his work, a network of opportunities has allowed SL to gain increasing recognition for his great talent with original and commissioned works.

SL Thorsen gave tribute to Aretha Franklin as the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2008 in celebration of The Grammys, Los Angeles. This was his third tribute in a row. In previous years he gave tribute to Bono in 2003 and to Sting in 2004. More recently has included Neil Diamond in 2009. And Barbra Streisand for 2011.



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