Artist Statement: This piece is meant to spark the conversation of climate change and how it’s impacting forest fires in the Yukon and the North. It highlights the fire, the smoke, the burn and in time the aftergrowth of morel mushrooms and fireweed.
Materials: Moonstone, howlite, faceted Australian opal, Klondike nuggets encased in a glass bead, porcupine quills, obsidian, bugle beads, emeralds, snowflake obsidian, silver beads, embroidery, and caribou hair tufting.
Bio: Kaylyn Baker is a Northern Tutchone and Tlingit artist from the Yukon. She is a citizen of Selkirk First Nation based out of Whitehorse. Kaylyn is an avid beader, using a variety of traditional and contemporary materials and textiles and is the winner of the 2023 Yukon Prize for Visual Arts. For Kaylyn beading is a way to connect with her ancestors through her spontaneous style of that she calls beaded storytelling.
Kaylyn’s beadwork adorns garments and accessories, including mukluks, moccasins, purses, and regalia. Her work has walked the red carpet at the Emmy Awards, she was a featured designer at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week 2022 and 2023 as well as the Adaka Art Festival Fashion Show and her solo exhibition at Yukon Arts Centre.