Forget Me Not | My Fancy Auntie Earrings

11.43 x 6.35 x 0.1 cm

caribou hair (hand-dyed and prepared by the artist in collaboration with her husband), porcupine quills, 18k gold-filled beads, vintage blue French beads, 14k gold-filled cones, 18k gold-filled findings, long black caribou neck hair, and 100% silk velvet

Maria Rose is recognized for her intricate caribou hair tufting practice. In this series, she employs a highly detailed micro-tufting technique to achieve nuanced colour transitions and layered depth within each composition. The delicate stems of the forget-me-not flowers are rendered using a traditional porcupine quill linework technique, adding structural contrast and refinement to the overall design.

Maria Rose Sikyea is a Dene artisan living in the Yukon. Maria is most recognized for her caribou hair tufting, being of intricacy and deep in colour variations. She advocates towards reconciliation and re-matriating her family's artistic traditions, aiming to depict a glimpse into the mastery of her Dene peoples, while exploring the influential traditional history of her family matriarchs. Her goal is to keep her Indigenous ways thriving, being a breath of her Dene ancestors' hard work bringing positive influences into today's modern world. Maria is a multi-disciplinary artist with her tactile art practices, traditional explorations, and cultural deliverance.

Maria has a diverse arts education. She attended New World School of Art in Miami, Florida, for high school and later completed Indigenous Art Studies at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in Fredericton. She has shown her art in various publications and art exhibits across Canada and beyond. Her current focus is working on a home-tanned hide clothing collection focusing on her Dene ancestors' embellishment traditions.