Loretta Jeff-Combs

Loretta Jeff-Combs is a Tŝilhqot’in artist from Tlesqox First Nations in British Columbia, Canada. She is a proud mother of two, an Tlesqox Ts’iqi Dechen Ts’edilhtan (Women’s Council Representative), Chief’s Assistant, and a University of British Columbia student, balancing community leadership with academic study. Her artistic practice blends traditional knowledge with contemporary materials, rooted in ancestral teachings and responsibilities to future generations. Working primarily in beadwork and Tsilhqot'in basket-inspired design, Loretta visualizes Indigenous ways of knowing, governance, and land-based Dechen Ts’edilhtan (law). Guided by her ?esggidam (ancestors) and community, her work reflects matriarchal systems of care, reciprocity, and collective responsibility embedded within life.

Through beadwork, she honours living knowledge while engaging in dialogue between Indigenous governance systems and contemporary public life, grounded in responsibility to land and community. Sechanalyagh.

DXC Artwork Title: Qats’ay ʔundziny (Strawberry Basket) 

Medium: Jewellery

Artist Statement: Qats’ay ʔundziny (Strawberry Basket) is rooted in Tsilhqot’in matriarchal governance and land-based law. The basket embodies collective responsibility and women’s authority; the strawberries represent renewal and continuity. The piece asserts Indigenous governance as a living system that continues to shape how futures are imagined and enacted.

Instagram: @Olletta_Creations 

LinkedIn: Loretta Jeff-Combs

DXC 2026 will open with Utopia Rewired: Creative Visions for Democratic Futures, a bold new exhibition spotlighting emerging artists from Canada and the European Union, on April 16. Presented in partnership with the European Union through its Delegation to Canada, the exhibition invites audiences to explore how art can reimagine democratic life—and the economic systems that shape it.