Sierra Barber

b.1991 Canada
Concordia Graduate - MFA (2025)

Sierra Barber (she/her) is an Upper Mohawk / mixed-European artist from Port Dover, ON, registered at the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Sierra completed an MFA in 2025 in the Painting and Drawing program at Concordia University in Tiohtiá:ke/ Montreal, QC. She graduated from OCAD University with a BFA in 2015, majoring in Sculpture and Installation with a minor in the Indigenous Visual Culture Program.  Her work has been shown in the annual Indigenous Art juried exhibition at the Woodland Cultural Centre, internationally in Aotearoa (New Zealand) at HOEA! Gallery and in the 7th edition of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA), Creation Stories, at Stewart Hall Art Gallery and the Rimouski Regional Museum. Her latest solo exhibition, Carrying Stories, was held at daphne, (Indigenous artist-run centre) in Montreal, QC.

As an Upper Mohawk and mixed-European artist, my paintings reflect and balance the layered experiences of my identity. Through oil painting and beadwork, two historically contrasting materials, I create a language that interprets my inner world. I refer to Haudenosaunee visual and material culture and create a space to explore my relationship to stories, both known and unknown. This process reclaims and connects me to the stories that are a part of me and that I belong to.​​

​​​In recent work, I reference souvenirs/ beaded whimsies created by Mohawk and Tuscarora communities for the tourism industry in Niagara Falls that took place in the 19th century. This style of beadwork appealed to tourists as the aesthetics drew upon Victorian floral design and symbolism. Haudenosaunee cultural meanings were also present, hidden within the pieces through the association of plants which created a shared yet hidden visual language (Biron, 2012). I’ve always been drawn to these souvenirs, knowing that there were stories embedded into the beadwork as a means of cultural survival. Strawberries in Haudenosaunee culture are a symbol of life, they are featured prominently in souvenir beadwork  and remain a personally charged symbol of resilience. 

I am considering the stories that exist within the beadwork, that were meant to be interpreted by the next generation, and relate them to my own experiences. I use imagery and symbolism from the beaded souvenirs as a vehicle to connect the cultural with the personal.  I use the same colour palette in my work  and cotton velveteen that was used to create the original beadwork I’m referencing. The act of retracing these patterns and repeating these stories is a way for me to reclaim them and to carry these stories into the future. My work explores themes of transformation, connection, memory and continuity.

Biron, G. (2012) A Cherished Curiosity: The Souvenir Beaded Bag in Historic Haudenosaunee Art

CV

Education
2025 MFA Painting & Drawing
Concordia University
Montréal (QC)

2015 BFA Sculpture & Installation Major
Indigenous Visual Culture Program Minor
OCAD University
Toronto (ON)

Solo Exhibitions
2025 Carrying Stories, daphne (artist-run centre), Montreal (QC)
2024 Sky Flowers, Galerie Shé:kon (BACA), Montreal (QC)
2018 Every Other, Art Gallery at the Lighthouse Festival Theatre, Port Dover (ON)
2014 Everything in its Place, Station Arts Centre, Tillsonburg (ON)
2012 Both Together, Waterford Old Town Hall, Waterford (ON)
2010 Show One, Lighthouse Festival Theatre, Port Dover (ON)

Select Group Exhibitions
2025 Indigenous Art 2025 - 50th Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford (ON)
2024 Creation Stories, Survey Exhibition, (BACA), Musée régional de Rimouski, Rimouski (QC)
2024 Creation Stories, Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA), Stewart Hall Art Gallery, Montreal (QC)
2024 Iontkahthóhtha 2024, Indigenous Art Fair, KORLCC, Kahnawake, QC
2023 Iowerā:kahre/Hau Maragai, Hoea Gallery, Gisborne, New Zealand
2022 Indigenous Art 2022 - 47th Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford (ON)
2021 Indigenous Art 2021 - 46th Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford (ON)​
2021 Art Sales & Services, Selected Artist, Art Gallery of Hamilton (ON)
2018 Timeraiser - Artist Market, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Centre, Toronto (ON)
2018 The Artist Project - Contemporary Art Fair, Participating Untapped Emerging Artist, Toronto (ON)
2018 Material. Form. Subject - Group Exhibition, Norfolk Arts Centre, Simcoe (ON)
​​2017 Duo Exhibition, 23 Market Gallery, Port Dover (ON)
​2017 Annual Norfolk Studio Tour, Port Dover (ON)
2016 Retail Exhibition Feature, Frank and Oak, Ottawa (ON)
​2016 Perivale Gallery, Manitoulin Island (ON)
2015 Do Say Look, Gallery 1313, Toronto (ON)
2015 Festival of the Body, OCAD University, Toronto (ON)​​

Public Art
2024 Creation Stories, Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA), Temporary Installation - Maison de la Culture - Verdun, Montreal (QC)

Auctions
2025 Printemps du MAC, Montreal (QC)

Collections
2024 Stewart Hall Cultural Centre Collection
Private Collections

Press/ Online
2025 Farrell Racette, Sherry. Stories From the Sky. Exhibition essay for Carrying Stories, 2025.
2024 Dumoulin-Bush, Katsitsanoron. Born to Blossom. Exhibition text for Sky Flowers, 2024.
2024 Johnson, Olivia. “Exploring Identity Through a Sky of Flowers.” The Link, March 5, 2024.
2024 Froundjian, Nanor. “Sky Flowers Exhibit Brings on Spring.” The Eastern Door, February 27, 2024.
2021 Curator on the Go Podcast - Season 2 - Episode 9 2021 Candyfloss Magazine - The Feel Good Issue - Featured Artist
2017 Create! Magazine - Miami Edition, Issue VII Publications

Panel Participation
2024 (New) Materialities: Interdisciplinary Beading, Featherwork and Tanning, Indigenous Futures Research Centre (IFRC) Annual Research Symposium, Montreal (QC)