Works from the flatrocks series, 2024

Hannah Claus’s artwork ranges from richly layered photographs to sensorial installations that consider relationships to the land, water, and one another. Claus is a multidisciplinary artist of Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) and English ancestry and is a member of Kenhtè:ke Kanien’kehà:ka (Tyendinaga Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte).

Claus takes interest in water as a connecting and transformational force. The series flatrocks is composed of many images of the Kaniatarowánen (St. Lawrence River) that flows from the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. The river holds deep cultural significance for the Kanien’kehá:ka and is a source of food, medicine, and livelihood. This particular area by the water was once a community gathering place. In the 1950s, the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway – a water transportation system of locks, canals, and channels – dramatically altered and expropriated Kanien’kehá:ka land, cutting off the community from the river. Claus’s artwork addresses both the cultural significance and the colonial disruption of this place.

Seamless movement and reflection in the images reveal new crystalline forms. Claus states that the repetition, altering, and mirroring of the photographs are a “means of disrupting and transforming the everyday to suggest alternative ways of seeing and understanding the worlds around us.” This process echoes the artist’s cultural belief that many parts come together and make one harmonious whole. Like intricate beadwork designs, the mesmerizing artwork gives way to the patterns of the natural world. As the light filters through the images, the serenity of water flowing over smooth stones suggests an understanding of place that surpasses remembered time.

Presented in partnership with the Canada Line Public Art Program – InTransit BC. Sponsored by Downtown Van. Generously supported by Rob Bruno.