A member of the Tyendinaga Mohawk community, artist Hannah Claus employs an Onkweh\u00f3n:we (Indigenous) epistemology in the creation of works in which the recurrence of motifs reflects the multiplicity of relationships at the heart of Kanien\u2019keh\u00e1:ka cosmovision. She creates sensory universes inspired by the connections between humans and nature through installations that often incorporate a photographic dimension. Using diverse processes derived from beading, she assembles images to create evocative forms unburdened by the limitations of figurative representation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her series of mobiles composed of suspended images borrows from the ontology of the wampum belt, an Indigenous cultural and political symbol whose name, in Kanien\u2019k\u00e9ha (the Mohawk language), means \u201criver made by hand.\u201d The wampum belt is a mnemonic object that represents lasting and living alliances between nations, embodied by the idea of an indefinitely flowing river. Part of a repertoire of installations dedicated to different watercourses, water song [Kahrhionhwa\u2019k\u00f3:wa]<\/em> (2024) visually reproduces the sound wave of a song for the St. Lawrence River, specially composed by Ionhiaror\u00f2ks McComber. Acetate discs floating on long threads streaming from ceiling to floor convey the song\u2019s fluctuations through their positioning and display the waters of the river shimmering in the light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by motifs found in Haudenosaunee beadwork, which traditionally has a narrative function, Claus uses the image as a language in the language of the land<\/em> (2024). The composition includes photographs of the St. Lawrence River taken in Kahnaw\u00e0:ke, organized in repetitive geometric patterns. Referring to the coding of Haudenosaunee visual and material culture, their structure refers to cosmogony and its relationship with the land. the language of the land<\/em> converts the river landscape into various motifs symbolizing the lower, surface, and celestial worlds, as reflected in the Haudenosaunee worldview. Through this work, Claus draws on the ability of traditional beadwork to link Indigenous existences of the past, present, and future and to relate a narrative on the threshold of temporalities, diverse realities, and representation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated from the French by Louise Ashcroft<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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