Hannah Claus
Hannah Claus (born February 7, 1969) is a multidisciplinary visual artist of English and Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) ancestries and is a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation. Claus' installations produce sensory environments that highlight time, place, and elements and her artwork explores the complexities of themes such as community, identity, modernization, and relationships. Biography. Hannah Claus was born on February 7, 1969 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and spent her childhood in Saint John, New Brunswick. Her grandmother is of Mohawk descent and Claus was raised to think and identify herself as both  Mohawk and European. In 2001, Claus moved to Montreal, Quebec with her two children. She is the Vice-President of the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective Board, which is an indigenous run and led non-profit organization that supports and connects artists, curators, and writers together. Claus also spends her time as the Chair of the Organizing Committee for the Montreal Arts Council. Claus has taught contemporary Indigenous art at Concordia University and is a sessional lecturer at the Kiuna Institute. Claus is one of the co-founders of "daphne," the first Indigenous  artist-run centre in Québec, along with Skawennati, Caroline  Monnet and Nadia Myre. Education. Hannah Claus obtained her Associate's degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design with Honors in Toronto, Canada 1997. During a presentation for her "trade-treaty-territory" exhibition, Claus stated she studied both drawing and painting as well as sculpture. She has expressed her rejection of how art school only emphasizes concepts and ideas, not so much beauty. Still desiring the "aesthetic appeal of painting," she chose installation art as her practice instead. Claus went on to pursue her Masters of Fine Arts in Studio Arts at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada  in 2004. "Trade is ceremony" was displayed as part of Claus' "trade-treaty-territory" exhibition at the Dunlop Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan. The art piece is composed of copper ball headpins and wool blanket. Artworks. Her inspiration is drawn from the illegible hand writing from the North West Company's registers and provides a view into the Indigenous world perspective during the early fur trade in the 1500s. Even as a French and English speaking woman, it was difficult for her to decipher the words and phrases denoted on each register. She emphasizes how arduous the task of trading  must have been for her ancestors. Each art piece of the "trade-treaty-territory" exhibition highlights an element of the earth, and she depicts the element of fire by placing the copper lines in a "central fire-like form" radiating outward. Claus interacts with light, shadows, and "piece together an atemporal space critical of Western ideologies and systems." The artwork itself stands as a symbol of peace between the Indigenous nations and the French. Claus asks the viewers to "enact relations, exchange words and knowledge, and share resources, the foundations for peaceful coexistence." In 2018, Hannah Claus was chosen as  the creator of the Indigenous art installation contest at Queen's University Law building in Kingston, Ontario. The materials comprised in this artwork are translucent and frosted acrylic sheets, and this installation is the first time she has ever physically represented the wampum belt. Authentic wampum belts are created from tubular beads found from Atlantic coast seashells. The beaded belts were used primarily by the Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands "for ornamental, ceremonial, diplomatic, and commercial purposes." Her belts hang suspended from the ceiling of the MacDonald Hall atrium. Six of the belts are Haudenosaunee Confederacy belts: Everlasting Tree , Dish and One Spoon, Ojibwa Friendship, Old Fort, Council Fire and Kahswentha or Two Row. Claus invented the seventh belt to honor the Kanienkehá:ka, the Algonquin, and the Mississauga nations, and these nations inhabit the area of which the University stands. Claus illuminates the symbol of peace, coexistence, and agreement through this installation. Her artwork is meant to be reflected to the University law students, faculty, and staff as a reminder of history and to value these "living" treaties. "Water song" is a suspended installation piece apart of the group exhibition "Inaabiwin" in the Ottawa Art Gallery, Ontario. In  Anishnaabemowin, inaabiwin means “movement of light," and Claus captures this through her thin acetate discs moving slowly to reflect the light. This artwork is an installation, meaning the art dominates the space it resides in. "Water song" is composed of digital print on acetate, thread, PVA glue, and plexiglass. Suspended from the ceiling hang threads holding the thin acetate discs that contain images of rivers, branches, and other pictures of nature on them. Her inspiration is drawn from the relationships with the rivers that flow through the Miami Tribe, the Gesgapegia’jg, Getnig, Tlapataqanji’jg, and Sipug. The installation's shape is  meant to mimic the sound waves of a traditional Mi'kmaw water song, that "gives thanks for the rivers and oceans." This traditional song was gifted to Claus by Tracey Metallic, Glenda Wysote-LaBillois and Victoria Labillois of Listuguj, all Pugwalesg singers. Claus also pays homage to the Haudenosaunee's wampum belt; she stresses the continuity and unification of rivers, similar to the coexistence principles and symbols of the wampum belt. "Cloudscape" is a suspended installation and solo exhibit at the Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Ontario. The installation is created from reprographic film, thread, and PVA glue, and the process  of the installation required three-dimensional programming. Claus' work reflects the Haudenosaunee creation story with the Sky-Woman. The Sky-Woman was a pregnant and celestial woman who fell from the Sky People, Karionake. She is responsible for the creation of human life on earth. The suspended white discs hang in cloud-like form, and are meant to mimic what the Sky-Woman's home must have looked like before she descended down to earth. The artist's "clouds" dominate the exhibit and enable the viewer to participate with the artwork by being surrounded and "destabilized" by it. The cloud -like forms stand to evoke community and creativity, and each individual white disc blend together to erect multiple massive clouds. Critic Justin Santelli from the Queen's University Journal claims Claus' work as an "incredibly unique piece, and it deserves your attention." Exhibitions. Solo exhibitions: Group exhibitions: Collections. Hannah Claus' work is included in: Honors and awards. In 2019, Hannah Claus was selected for the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship. Claus and five other artists were chosen to receive a $25,000 award and produce a permanent collection for the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Claus was also  selected for the Queen's University Law building art contest in Kingston, Ontario where she created the piece "Words that are lasting" in 2018.