Shelley Niro, Border Series, Treaties
Shelley Niro
1954-
Bay of Quinte Mohawk
Date
2009
Medium Specific
Digital print
Classification
Photograph
Dimensions
24 x 48 in. (61 x 121.9 cm)
Accession Number
2009.20.10.115
Credit
Gift of the Artist
Biography
Shelley Niro is a multi-disciplinary artist, and a member of the Six Nations Reserve, Turtle Clan, Bay of Quinte Mohawk. She has worked in a variety of media, including beadwork, painting, photography, and film. Her work challenges stereotypical images of Aboriginal peoples.
Niro was raised on the Six Nations Reserve near the town of Brantford, Ontario. Invention and creativity were rampant in her childhood home. With few entertainment options she and her brothers and sisters would work to amuse each other with storytelling, drawing, plays, and songs, with each performance being judged and critiqued. Later in her career Niro would use her family members in her artworks.
For Niro education is an ongoing process which began with a Diploma in the Performing Arts from Cambrian College, Sudbury Ontario (1972), followed with an Honours Fine Arts Degree in painting and sculpture from the Ontario College of Art, (1990) and a Master of Fine Arts form the University of Western Ontario in 1997. In the 2000's Niro's studies began to delve more deeply into the medium of film with programs at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Niro has received considerable attention for her work in film. Her short film The Shirt, was presented at the 2003 Venice Biennial as well as at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Niro was raised on the Six Nations Reserve near the town of Brantford, Ontario. Invention and creativity were rampant in her childhood home. With few entertainment options she and her brothers and sisters would work to amuse each other with storytelling, drawing, plays, and songs, with each performance being judged and critiqued. Later in her career Niro would use her family members in her artworks.
For Niro education is an ongoing process which began with a Diploma in the Performing Arts from Cambrian College, Sudbury Ontario (1972), followed with an Honours Fine Arts Degree in painting and sculpture from the Ontario College of Art, (1990) and a Master of Fine Arts form the University of Western Ontario in 1997. In the 2000's Niro's studies began to delve more deeply into the medium of film with programs at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Niro has received considerable attention for her work in film. Her short film The Shirt, was presented at the 2003 Venice Biennial as well as at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.