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- Artist Name:
- Towanna Miller
- Location:
- Six Nations, Ontario
- Statement:
- I returned to the longhouse after my divorce and started attending the ceremonies. After one year I had my name changed. Each time I went I kept envisioning Iroquois art. I decided to put my thoughts, memories, dreams and ideas onto canvas. As a child I was drawn into the Iroquois stories and legends told by Tom Porter. It made me proud to be Mohawk and has greatly influenced my art. When I picked up my brushes I decided my first serious would be the creation. First set of paintings was the Skywoman, Three Sisters, Coneption By The West Wind and Twins Intertwined. The next set was the Condolence Clan and symbols (Bear Domes, Wolf Domes and Turtle Domes). I gave a set of prints to the Indian Way School to help the children visualize the stories as they heard them. As I progressed I noticed that I was more drawn to the bright visual colors in an attempt to make my art pop. The next set to be completed was the Mohawk Portrait, Corn Husk Twins, and The Three Sisters Bloom.
I only hope to leave something behind. In a way I get a chance to put a piece of me onto canvas and pass it along to the next generation to appreciate and understand. I feel privileged to be able to share myself through art. While I paint I listen to Native and classical music. It helps me to stay focused. There have been moments that I have cried for being able to create such beauty. The thoughts, feelings, memories, music, words have become “Mohawk Whispers”. I hope you have enjoyed my art as much as I have in producing them. I keep asking myself “What does it mean to be Mohawk” and my next painting whispers to me.
- Biography:
- I attended High School of Art & Design, Manhattan, New York 1980 - 1982. Kahnawake Survival School 1983, Quebec Canada, and the Institute Of American Indian Art 1983- 1986, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The schools gave me the tools it was up to me to be productive. For a short time I worked at the American Indian Community Gallery/Museum, NY 1989. After my divorce in 2003, I returned to my Mohawk Territory and Longhouse. I picked up my paint brushes again and felt inspired.
Inspiration guides me while I paint. I try to incorporate bright colors with a touch of light and shadow with texture. I’ve heard Iroquois Creation Stories as a child from Tom Porter. They stayed with me all my life. I also seek Darryl Thompson as my elder advisor in Kahnawake on Iroquois subject matters for my art through stories. I have these paintings in my head and ache until I’m able to produce them to canvas. Some of my paintings have beadwork on them. It’s such a part of who I am, for many years all I did was beadwork for pow-wow & traditional dancing and wedding regalia‘s, now I truly feel blessed to have this gift to produce beautiful art with paint and beads.
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