Hanna Agasuuq Sholl

Medium: Skin Sewing, Sculpting, Painting, Drawing, Photography, Mixed Media

Hanna Sholl, Alutiiq name Agasuuq, was born in Kodiak, Alaska to Sophie Frets and Bruce Burns. Her maternal grandparents were Walt and Edna Hansen. She introduces herself in this way to honor her ancestry, homelands, and relationships, each of which informs her art.

Since childhood Hanna has been drawn to various aspect of art. After moving back to Kodiak in 2006, she began exploring Alutiiq culture and Alaskan Native crafts. Under her first mentorship with Alaska Native Artist, Flossie Spencer, she started her journey as an Alutiiq artist, and began forming her business and developing her craft. In 2012 she married Jonathan “Gage” Sholl who plays a big role in supporting her artistically. She has been blessed with four children, who together with her husband, fuel her drive to share Alutiiq culture through art.

She is a 2020 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow, focusing her efforts on exploring and documenting Alutiiq cultural techniques and stories.

“With my artwork, my hopes are to always honor the resistance and creativity of our ancestors, combining contemporary with traditional methods. Currently I am working primarily with skin sewing, clay, acrylic paint, woodcarving, weaving, beading, mixed media, and photography. My intention is to have the works I create speak back to those who came to our homelands and described our ancestors in racist and negative ways. My hopes are also that it will speak to our people, a reminder that being strong and independent has always been part of our culture. And still is.”