Feminine Energy

zuky:

“Sun Catcher” by Ioyan Mani (Maxine Noel). Maxine was born in Manitoba, Canada, of Santee Oglala Sioux parents. She spent her early childhood on her mother’s reserve. She left to attend an Indian residential school at age 6, and eventually became a legal secretary, but her legal career was soon overshadowed by her love of drawing and painting. She took up serigraphy, etching, and stone lithography, and now devotes herself full-time to creating art. She signs her work by her Sioux name Ioyan Mani, which translates as “Walk Beyond”. I discovered her work on display in one of the many art stores and galleries focused on indigenous artists on Granville Island, just across False Creek from downtown Vancouver.