Artists and Designers

Photo by: Nadya Kwandibens / Artist: Celeste Pedri-Spade

Gwich'in / Canada

Tania Larsson

Discipline:

Craft

Tania Larsson designs contemporary, northern Indigenous adornment based on Gwich’in culture and created with land-based materials. Tania makes these adornments with Gwich’in people in mind, so that by wearing her works there is a connection felt to our ancestors, our land, and our culture. In a modern context, Tania uses techniques that have been used for centuries in the design of clothing and tools. By using materials from the land, Tania’s audience can connect to a deep respect for the land and animals humans survive from. Tania’s process is very important; She use hides she tans herself, along with hair, horn and antlers that are all byproducts of subsistence hunting. She also incorporate those natural elements with silver, gold and diamonds to create a striking contrast of textures, colour and materials. Tania techniques have been passed down to her and some learned, such as chasing and repoussé. This art is central to creating an evolving, northern Indigenous aesthetic that can be paired with our grandparents’ traditional clothing by reclaiming and revitalizing traditional work in a contemporary fashion.