Sept. 1-30, 2026
This exhibit brings together two Ojibwe artists who create contemporary work about Native life. Stratigraphy (/strəˈtiɡrəfē/) spirals through the cyclical nature of generations, land and time. It complements artist Maggie Thompson’s intergenerational collaboration, Inherited Ground. The word stratigraphy refers to the structure and order of a particular set of strata, or layers of earth. Geologists and archaeologists alike use stratigraphy to understand the passage of time. The exhibit showcases the way that these three artists conceptualize time: through generations.
In the words of artist Racquel Banaszak (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe), visual art allows the viewer to “navigate between the past, present, and future simultaneously.” Her layered, stratigraphic collages portray Ojibwe lifeways of time immemorial. She uses modern materials like beads, velvet and gold leaf, and traditional materials, like porcupine quills, and ink. Faceless figures, like corn dolls, wear clothing and take actions that elude time.
Eliza Klarer (White Earth Nation Direct Descendant) makes ceramics that have a literal stratigraphy: layers of Waabigan or clay covered by layers of glaze, some accented by additional layered appliques. Her Woodland ceramics echo back 2,500 or more years. Her contemporary work speaks to the uppermost layer of the Earth’s crust – the buildings and fungi that cover the newest stratum we interact with every day. Her paintings feature layered meaning. Migizi (eagles) swoop down to Minnesota’s state flower, and waawaashkeshiweshkan (deer antlers) appear alongside modern objects.
These works invite you to consider time as a cycle, with layers of generational ancestry beneath, behind and all around us.
This exhibit will run alongside the Inherited Ground exhibit in the Reedy Gallery for the month of September.
Cost: Included with general daily admission, which is free for members and ages 15 and younger and $20-25 for non-members ages 16 and older. Indigenous peoples receive waived general daily admission to the Arboretum when making a reservation by calling 612-301-6775.
Artist Statements
Rachel Banaszak
Racquel Banaszak is a visual artist based in Minneapolis who creates murals, paintings, beadwork, collage, embroidery and drawing. She is an enrolled citizen of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. Her work often focuses on Indigenous histories, relationality, kinship and Indigenous futurisms. She is particularly interested in how Indigenous people shape the world and the ways they hold on to who they are. Her visual imagery is an ode to her ancestors whose strength and perseverance have paved the way for her today.
She earned her master's of heritage studies and public history at the University of Minnesota. She earned a graduate certificate in Native American studies from Montana State University (2018) and a bachelor of science degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (2012). She also studied aboriginal visual culture at the Ontario College of Art & Design University in Toronto, Canada.
Eliza Klarer
Eliza Klarer (White Earth Ojibwe Direct Descendent) is inspired by the details of the rural wilderness where she has always lived at Gaa-waabaabiganikaag, White Earth Nation, in northwestern Minnesota. Her work spans woodland pottery, painting, fiber arts, murals and community-engaged projects.
Eliza has a bachelor’s of studio art from University of Minnesota Morris. She carries on the legacy of her late grandmother, Judy Toppings, by teaching classes on woodland pottery alongside her mother, Janet Klarer. Eliza Klarer apprenticed with McKnight Fellow and long-time mural blanket maker Rick Kagigebi (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) and leads art activities to combat loneliness and social disconnection.
In her earliest memories, Eliza recalls being fascinated by the intricacies of nature. As she grew up, she became intrigued by the diversity of humanity, the playfulness of a creative spirit and, most recently, reconnecting with traditional cultural values.
Central to her creative narrative is the importance of our ecosystem, a melancholy reflection on the impact of human activity on our planet, and paying homage to her creative ancestors, who inspire her work.