Frozen Purple Lavender

11.43 x 2.54 x 0.1 cm

hand-dyed caribou hair for tufting (coloured by the artist and her husband), amethyst gemstones, vintage French beads (circa 1940s), 14k gold-filled cones, 18k gold-filled findings, caribou hide backing, hand-dyed long caribou neck hair, and assorted gems

Maria Rose is recognized for her intricate caribou hair tufting practice. Frozen Purple Lavender highlights the quiet strength and simplicity of singular tufted caribou hair circles, paired with the graceful movement of long, hand-dyed caribou neck hair. This earring style, known as Caribou Dancers, honours the rhythmic migration of caribou as they move and dance across the northern landscape. It is an iconic Caribou Woman Creations design and one of the earliest earring styles Maria began creating many years ago when she returned to her tufting practice. The lavender palette reflects the healing properties of lavender during the cold winter months. In the stillness of the Arctic season, plant medicines and flora become powerful allies offering comfort, calm, and restoration when warmth feels distant.

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.