Dana Claxton (born 1959) is a

Hunkpapa Lakota The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

filmmaker, photographer, and

performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

. Her work looks at stereotypes, historical context, and

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

Indigenous peoples of the Americas In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

, specifically those of the

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

. In 2007, she was awarded an Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art.

Background

Heritage and early life

Claxton's family are descendants of

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota people, Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against Federal government of the United States, United States government policies. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian ...

's followers who escaped persecution by the U.S. Army in 1876 after the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...

, heading to Canada. Growing up in

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

, she is the youngest of four siblings. Her family's

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

Wood Mountain Lakota First Nation The Wood Mountain First Nation (, also spelt as ''Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake Lakȟóta Oyáte'') is a Lakota First Nations band government in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Led across the border by Sitting Bull, they are the only organized Lakota nat ...

, is located in Southwest Saskatchewan.

Teaching and video production

Claxton co-founded the Indigenous Media Arts Group and has taught at the

Emily Carr University of Art and Design The Emily Carr University of Art and Design (stylized as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and abbreviated as ECU) is a public university of art school, art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1925 as the Van ...

in Vancouver. In 2003 she served as the Global Television Chair at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

where she taught at the school of journalism. In 2010 she served as Simon Fraser University's Ruth Wynn Woodward Chair in

Women's Studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

. She has worked closely with numerous Canadian and First Nations organizations, such as the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

, among others. She served as director and producer for 52 episodes of the Canadian program '' Wakanheja'', a First Nations oriented children's program and 26 episodes of ''ArtZone'', an art show for teenagers. She also served as producer and a storyteller for '' First Stories-VTV'', a program about the Aboriginal population of Vancouver.

Current life

When not creating art, Claxton serves on panel discussions, as an art juror, curator, as well as a mentor for young and emerging artists. Claxton lives in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and is a faculty member at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. She previously studied acting at

HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency prog ...

in New York City. She received a Masters Degree in Liberal Studies in 2007 from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

where she was made Ruth Wynn Woodward Endowed Chair in 2009-2010.

Artistic career

''I'm influenced by my own experience as a Lakota woman, as a Canadian, a mixed blood Canadian, and then my own relationship to the natural and supernatural world. So taking that whole bundle of experiences, it all goes in to the artwork, I think that's where the multi-layering comes in because I've had a very multi-layered life. And it's all those experiences that go in to the work.'' – Dana Claxton, 2007

Claxton combines her own world-view with Indigenous issues from the past and present. She investigates concerns about

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

, body imagery, beauty, politics, spirituality and the

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

of Native peoples and how it is placed in popular culture. Through video, photography and conceptual projects Claxton strives to blend traditional experiences and environments within contemporary spaces

Video

Claxton's video creations started in the early 1990s. Experimenting with video in works such as ''Grant Her Restitution'' (1991) and ''I Want To Know Why'' (1994) where she explores the effects of colonialism on Canadian women. Evolving her artistic goals further, starting in 1996 with ''The Red Paper'', Claxton proceeded to attempt to "bring spirit into the gallery space". Through the blending of the

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

she incorporates traditional objects and symbols of Lakota spirituality in contemporary spaces and environs. Her numerous video projects have been shown in more than 15 countries.

Photography

In the series ''On to the Red Road'' (2006), Claxton brings together five photographs to take a look on femininity and clothing. Through the series Claxton is showing a model wearing traditional regalia slowly removing articles of clothing to reveal a sexy outfit, bringing questions of sexuality and gender bias to light. ''Paint Up'' (2009) features portraits of Joseph Paul, a ceremonial

Salish Salish () may refer to: * Salish peoples, a group of First Nations/Native Americans ** Coast Salish peoples, several First Nations/Native American groups in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest ** Interior Salish peoples, several First Na ...

Black Face dancer and

Pow-wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their ...

dancer living on the Musqueam Indian Reserve. Up close, large scale color portraits of Paul with his face painted, these works have been described as "imposing images, striking and cool, throw down a challenge to the sterile, nonspiritual, materialistic view of contemporary life." Newer works such as the ''Mustang Suite'' take a vivid look at the meanings and stereotypes behind ''Indianess'', specifically Black Elk's vision of the Horse Dance. A group of large C-prints, the

mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticate ...

represents freedom and mobility, and is not necessarily displayed as a horse. ''Daddy's Gotta New Ride'' shows an Indigenous man in a black suit with face paint and braided hair, standing next to a red

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...

. ''Baby Girls Gotta Mustang'' features twin girls in red dresses and

mukluk Mukluks or kamik ( ) (singular: , plural: ) are soft boots, traditionally made of reindeer (caribou) skin or sealskin, and worn by Indigenous Arctic peoples, including Inuit, Iñupiat, and Yup'ik. Mukluks may be worn over an inner boot liner a ...

s on bicycles. Another in the series, ''Mama Has a Pony Girl…Named History and Sets Her Free'', shows a

medicine woman A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name in ...

with her arms outstretched and a

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...

woman danced like a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

pony girl. The image is meant to support Aboriginal women who wish to release themselves from the binds of history, specifically one filled with sexualized stereotypes. Other images in the series are large scale reflections on the

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

community in a contemporary world. Claxton has also focused on the

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an Native Americans in the United States, American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues ...

which features blown up black-and-white photos of declassified government documents about the at times controversial civil rights organization. The documents were collected when Claxton lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s, from the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. The reporting documents have many blacked out words, notorious of other government documents from the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and related organizations. Claxton's photography has been featured in the book ''#NotYourPrincess Voices of Native American Women'' (2017), which was edited by

Lisa Charleyboy Lisa Charleyboy is a First Nations ( Tsilhqot’in) writer, storyteller, editor, and social entrepreneur. She is the editor-in-chief of ''Urban Native Magazine'', which focuses on popular culture from an Indigenous perspective. She makes frequent a ...

and Mary Beth Leatherdale. Included in her art piece ''Onto the Red Road'', Claxton states that " tis about transformation, spirituality, and objectification of Indigenous

omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages ...

" When asked "what it means to be an NDN woman," Claxton cites "care for your family and community with generosity, courage, wisdom, and fortitude." Claxton's solo exhibition “Dana Claxton: Spark" opened at the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of modern art, ...

in 2024, as part of the larger exhibition ''Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum''. The exhibition featured LED large-scale, backlit, color photographs that she refers to as "fireboxes" as a play on the term "lightboxes" to described the energy in her work with a nod to her indigenous roots. These fireboxes she references as a testament to the beauty and resilience of Indigenous women.

Major works

Buffalo Bone China

In ''Buffalo Bone China'' Claxton blends performance art,

found object A found object (a calque from the French ''objet trouvé''), or found art, is art created from undisguised, but often modified, items or products that are not normally considered materials from which art is made, often because they already hav ...

s and video to dissect the effects upon

peoples due to policies from colonial Great Britain regarding the

American bison The American bison (''Bison bison''; : ''bison''), commonly known as the American buffalo, or simply buffalo (not to be confused with Bubalina, true buffalo), is a species of bison that is endemic species, endemic (or native) to North America. ...

. Bison were slaughtered and their bones crushed and exported to England to make

bone china Bone china is a type of vitreous, translucent pottery, the raw materials for which include bone ash, feldspathic material and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from c ...

. In the performance Claxton smashes pieces of china and makes four bundles, placing the bundles in a sacred circle while a video of buffalo plays in the background. "Feeling the loss of the buffalo, the backbone of Plains spirituality and sustenance, the artist uses a rubber mallet to destroy plates and bowls. The breaking of the china refers to the use of buffalo bones in the making of bone china during the period of exploitation and decimation of the buffalo." Claxton only smashed British bone China. ''Buffalo Bone China'' was exhibited at the

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; ) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds eight galleries totaling to of ...

in Canada from 23 May 2009 to 13 September 2009, as well as the

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Fr ...

from 27 October 2018 to 3 February 2019.

Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux

Created in 2003 and displayed at the 17th

Biennale of Sydney The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...

, ''Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux'' brings together landscape scenery, interviews and images to examine the founding of the Moose Jaw camp, the camp founded by Sitting Bull after exodus out of the United States after the Battle of Little Bighorn. The piece, originally commissioned by the Moose Jaw Art Gallery, features four video screens, archival images and interviews from the camps original inhabitants, as well as footage of the site.

Awards

In 2019, the Hnatyshyn Foundation awarded Claxton their prize for outstanding achievement by a mid-career Canadian artist. In 2019 Claxton received the

YWCA Women of Distinction Award The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

in the category of Arts, Culture and Design. Claxton won the 2020

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for Artistic Achievement in the Visual Arts Category. Also in 2020, Claxton won the Scotiabank Photography Award

Selected public collections

* Art Bank, Canada Council Art Bank *

Colby College Museum of Art The Colby College Museum of Art is an art museum on the campus of Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1959 and now comprising five wings, nearly 8,000 works and more than 38,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Colby College Museu ...

, Maine; *

Robert McLaughlin Gallery The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a public art gallery in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest public art gallery in the Regional Municipality of Durham, of which Oshawa is a part. The gallery houses a significant collection of Canadian conte ...

, Oshawa; *

Winnipeg Art Gallery The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collect ...

;

Exhibitions

*''Dana Claxton: Spark, 2024,

'' *''Time and Tide Flow Wide'', 2023,

*''Fringing the Cube'', 2018–19,

*''Solo show'', 2010,

*''Native Visuality'', 2009, C.N. Gorman Museum *''New Work'', 2009,

University of Lethbridge The University of Lethbridge (also known as uLethbridge, uLeth, and U of L) is a public comprehensive and research university located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with a second campus in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in the liberal arts traditio ...

*''Steeling the Gaze'', 2009,

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

*''Solo show'', 2007, Montreal Biennale *''Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art'', 2007, Eiteljorg Museum *''Solo show'', 2006, Biennale d’art contemporain du Havre *''Solo show'', 2005, Art Star Biennale *''Gatherings: Aboriginal Art from the Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery'', 2004,

Guangdong Museum The Guangdong Museum () is a general museum of Cantonese art, nature, culture and history in Guangzhou. History Old building The Guangdong Provincial Museum was located on 215 Wenming Rd. (), in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, on which was the o ...

of Art *''Topographies'', 1996,

References

External links

''Dana Claxton, Buffalo Bone China''
on Tribe Inc.
''Dana Claxton: Disturbing History''
in Canadian Art
''Dana Claxton: From a Whisper to a Scream''
in Canadian Art
''Dana Claxton and the Power of Looking''
from The Vancouver Sun
''Danger in Paradise''
an exhibition curated by Claxton
''Red Paper''
from the Vancouver Art Gallery * a video by Lori Blondeau & Dana Claxton

by Dana Claxton
''The Medicine Project''
by Dana Claxton {{DEFAULTSORT:Claxton, Dana Hunkpapa people First Nations performance artists First Nations filmmakers First Nations conceptual artists Canadian conceptual artists Canadian performance artists Canadian women performance artists First Nations photographers Canadian women photographers People from Yorkton Academic staff of the University of Regina Academic staff of Simon Fraser University Artists from Saskatchewan Artists from Vancouver Film directors from Saskatchewan Film directors from Vancouver Academic staff of the University of British Columbia 1959 births Living people Canadian women artists First Nations academics Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners First Nations women artists Lakota women artists Lakota artists