Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
General, Gail |
Notes |
Gail General Aonwentsiyoh Mohawk Nation Wolf Clan Gail General resides at Akwesasne Reservation near Hogansburg, NY. She spent six months with her cousin from Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario learning to make cornhusk dolls. Following that brief lesson,Gail continued to educate herself in this traditional art. Today, dollmaking has been her art practice for more than 50 years. Her creations are the result of a long-standing and successful collaboration with fellow artisan Pam Brown. Pam and Gail's dolls are made from white corn husks with yarn hair and leather or fabric clothing. All are very highly and accurately detailed. None are given faces, as per tradition. The dolls are totally produced by hand and each capture some aspect of Haudenosaunee teachings and traditional lifeways. Both Pam and Gail bring their own ideas and expertise to their creations. Their dolls are imagined as single art pieces as well as complicated "dollscapes" with multiple individual figures. The dolls often include miniature items like baskets, lacrosse sticks, wampum belts, and instruments and are mounted on shelf fungus or wood. The two have been showing their dolls in exhibits and selling a limited edition series since the 1990s. The role of corn as one of the Three Sisters and life sustainer, is foremost in the artists' minds as they work, as is its connection to the generations of those who came before. Their work has been presented at the Southern Plains Indian Museum (Anadarko, OK, 1991); museums in Ottawa, Sudbury, Toronto (Ontario, Canada); Montreal (Quebec;Canada); Halifax (Nova Scotia); the American Indian Archaeological Institute (Washington, CT); the Akwesasne Museum (Akwesasne); the Art Center in Old Forge (NY); and many other venues. Their dolls are in the permanent collection of the Iroquois Indian Museum and are often carried by the Akwesasne Museum gift shop. *Bio text cannot be used in print or web publications without IIM permission. Use for other purposes (such as research papers, presentations) should credit the IIM. |
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