HERON PROJECTS
Kehhte: Ke Oak
Janice Brant
Walnut ink and acrylic on paper
Gallery representation
© Janice Brant
Gallery representation
© Janice Brant
Janice Brant Kahehtoktha is a Kanyenke’ha’ka (Mohawk) artist and seed keeper from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. She was born and raised in the community. Janice enjoys learning and sharing her Mohawk language, culture, and history. Janice works with natural materials such as Walnut Ink and Birch Bark, corn husk, clay, vine, stone, feather, and shell. She also paints using acrylic, oil, and water paint on paper, canvas, leather, and wood. She does needle-felting with wool, wire sculpting, and paper-making from cattails, hemp, mulberry, and other plant materials from her garden and natural surroundings. Her art and writing are inspired by the natural world and teachings of the Rotinonhson:ni/Six Nations Confederacy. Janice has been creating and expressing herself through art and writing since childhood. Janice has a number of paintings in both private and public collections nationally.
Each one of her log prints is printed directly from the logs used to create traditional mortars and pestles, important tools in Haudenosaunee food traditions. Janice did this to honour each tree that was used to make a mortar and pestle. In Haudenosaunee tradition, trees are deeply revered as sentient beings and spiritual entities that are integral community members, not merely natural resources. This relationship is holistic, rooted in respect, reciprocity, and a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of all life forms. The log mortar and pestle was used as part of food preparations and ceremony. As a seed keeper, Janice has immersed herself in learning about the Three Sisters Agricultural complex and other food crops of her ancestors, from gardening and seed saving to seed and food preparation, cooking and storage. Constructing the log mortars and pestles is both cultural revitalization and reconciliation, and the prints serve as a way to honour the logs used in the process. It reminds us where we have come from, where we are presently, and where we want to go in the future. When we learn and practice our culture, language and spirituality, we are healing ourselves and reconnecting the pathways with Creation and one another as children of Mother Earth.
Janice is represented by Melt Studio + Gallery. To see more of her work, please click here.
Each one of her log prints is printed directly from the logs used to create traditional mortars and pestles, important tools in Haudenosaunee food traditions. Janice did this to honour each tree that was used to make a mortar and pestle. In Haudenosaunee tradition, trees are deeply revered as sentient beings and spiritual entities that are integral community members, not merely natural resources. This relationship is holistic, rooted in respect, reciprocity, and a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of all life forms. The log mortar and pestle was used as part of food preparations and ceremony. As a seed keeper, Janice has immersed herself in learning about the Three Sisters Agricultural complex and other food crops of her ancestors, from gardening and seed saving to seed and food preparation, cooking and storage. Constructing the log mortars and pestles is both cultural revitalization and reconciliation, and the prints serve as a way to honour the logs used in the process. It reminds us where we have come from, where we are presently, and where we want to go in the future. When we learn and practice our culture, language and spirituality, we are healing ourselves and reconnecting the pathways with Creation and one another as children of Mother Earth.
Janice is represented by Melt Studio + Gallery. To see more of her work, please click here.