Iris Hauser was born in 1956 in Cranbrook, British Columbia. She studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the 1970s, and then came to Saskatoon to study at the University of Saskatchewan. She then moved to Kassel, Germany to study independently for a year before returning to Canada. Hauser has taught art at the Mendel Art Gallery and at the University of Saskatchewan's Certificate of Art and Design program. Hauser's large portraits in oil are rich in narrative and often incorporate symbolistic and disturbing imagery. Of her exhibition "A Time for Dancing" at the Vernon Public Art Gallery, a reviewer wrote, "Hauser's approach to painting and her ability in accurate modeling of human topography result in highly emotionally charged images, complemented by the selection of universal themes of the human condition." And the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina noted that "Through a dialectic of opposites: physicality and spirituality, past and present, Hauser's paintings transcend their particularity as realistic portraits of individuals and acknowledge the collective experience of what it means to be human." Hauser's paintings have been exhibited nationally and collected by the Saskatchewan Arts Board and the Mendel Art Gallery. In addition to her own work, Hauser has been active in Saskatchewan's art community. She has served on the board of CARFAC Saskatchewan and served as a juror for the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils. Iris Hauser continues to live and work in Saskatoon.