This Land is Mime Land
Shelley Niro
16- December to 13- February

"Niro is a member of the Turtle Clan of the Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) Nation, Six Nations Reserve. The twelve works in this exhibition consist of sets of three photographs mounted in an overmat perforated in a decorative pattern reminiscent of traditional beadwork. One image depicts members of Niro's family. Another photograph is a more straightforward representation of the artist. The third image shows Niro in various guises: a construction worker, a character out of the Star Trek series, and an Elvis impersonator. Her depictions show how identity is influenced by tradition, family history, and mass culture. Niro's use of cultural icons also deconstructs viewer expectations as to what roles a Kanien'kehaka woman can assume in modern society, while revealing how mass media characters actively figure in the construction of modern Aboriginal identity.". Excerpted from the National Gallery of Canada?s publication On Tour.