For over 30 years, Shelley Niro has challenged dominant perceptions of Indigenous people throughout her extensive art and filmmaking practice. Often using humour and a flair for storytelling, Niro addresses stereotypical representations of Indigenous people to expose powerful colonial attitudes. From her unique perspective as a Mohawk artist, Niro frequently casts herself and family members in her work to harnesses her familial agency. Niro’s work continually stresses the significance of the land within Indigenous worldviews, languages, and ways of being.

Shelley Niro is a member of the Turtle Clan, Bay of Quinte Mohawk from the Six Nations Reserve. holds a degree from Ontario College of Art and a Master of Fine Art from the University of Western Ontario. Niro has exhibited across Canada has work in collections of the Canada Council Art Bank, Canadian Museum of History, and Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. Her award-winning films have been screened in festivals worldwide, and she presented work at the 2003 Venice Biennale. Shelley Niro lives in Brantford, Ontario.