I am John K Sterner, a Sicangu Lakota German human being. I am an artist; drawing painting & sculpting art. I have been an athlete and coach; football, track and wrestling. I am a teacher of many things; church, physical education, human relations, and art. I am a father and a husband.

I have taught and coached for 30 years in public schools, churches, community centers and Universities. I have been active in cultural learning events and community building events. I have presented at cultural discussions and presentations of Indigenous Art for local agencies, churches, and schools. I was a teacher assistant for human relations coursework and worked as a counselor for the SMSU AOS/TRiO department for five years.

I continue to make Art pursuing the idea of what it is to be a modern displaced American Indian. The concept of what my heritage is and who I am in relation to that culture. I explore different mediums; cast bronze, fabricated steel, wood carving, plein air, oil painting and mixed media drawings. I use these different mediums combined with ideas searching for the connection between me and my race in today’s world, mixing traditional and contemporary Lakota spirituality into my work. My Lakota side and European heritage parents and grandparents taught me of the connections between the Lakota beliefs and European Christian beliefs. I was also a Nationally and internationally competitive athlete and coach who used the idea of the “Mind, Body and Spirit.” This combination of cultures has always been a part of who I am and it continues to find its way into my work. I explore the connections between being someone who is searching for who they are and someone who knows who they are.

Currently I have been using #inktober and church bulletins to make modern Lakota Ledger Art. I use the prompt words of #inktober to create an image that contains an eagle within every mixed media drawing. I also use the theme of the church bulletin to create ideas or images that represent a Lakota spiritual thought process while listening to the church dialogue. I draw the images and then however the word moves me that day I finish each page with colors that represent that spiritual journey. I use Lakota symbols to represent the images in both the #inktober and church bulletins. The Main symbol I incorporate is the Wanbli or Eagle. The Eagle represents Lakota ancestors and interacts with humans by appearing and speaking spiritually to the recipient.

The Eagle is also used to represent God or the “Great Spirit. My life fortunately has many connections to the eagle, physically, and spiritually. I use traditional, modern, and abstracted symbols to represent the eagle as a deliverer of spiritual truths. The Eagle is a key component of my work because of that.