Travois First Fridays: "Generational Knowledge" by Mona Cliff

Mona Cliff was born in Prescott, AZ, was raised in Portland, OR, and currently resides in Lawrence, KS. She is an enrolled member of the Aaniiih (White Clay people)/ Assiniboine tribes, and has Polish and German heritage. She uses traditional Indigenous techniques in conjunction with contemporary images.

Cliff explores the subject of identity, culture and mixed heritage. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. During that time, she used photo-etching and collage to explore issues of Native identity in contemporary America, by using humor to address stereotypical ideas of Native people and identity. After graduating, she turned to traditional Native methods as a way of further understanding the connection of Indigenous identity.

“In this series ‘Generational Knowledge,’ I am creating a space to honor what has been labeled ‘woman’s work.’ I am looking toward the mediums and conduits of craft, how Indigenous cultures thrive and are created in the quiet corners of a home,” Cliff said. “My art is rooted in my Aaniiih and Eastern European heritage. I use my art to explore the concept of woman as gatekeepers of cultural knowledge, how this knowledge forms personal identity, and is passed down generationally to create traditions.”