CARRIE MAE ROSE

The agave maintains a tender sweet center within its beautiful radial structure of barbed and pointed stalks. These leaves protect its nectar from animals seeking water in the desert. When approaching the agave plant, one must be aware and respectful of this natural armor. Similarly, we each need love and touch yet also respect and honor.

In Carrie Mae Rose's own life, as a child she lacked the ability to protect herself. She was groomed & violated and consequently did not learn how to allow others to treat her with reverence. Her nectar, her center, continued to be handled indiscriminately. Her struggle to strike this delicate balance of vulnerability and safety inspired one her first bodies of work, Agave Armor.

Rose has used the agave's message as a metaphor for her need to establish boundaries/armor to protect herself and teach others how to treat her with respect, honor and appreciation. Representing playful spritiual power, the Agave Aureole was inspired by the spikes of light surrounding the Virgin of Guadalupe. Each gold-leafed agave stalk becomes a ray of light where the viewer can become deified. Later as her journey continued, large Agave Wing installations became a way to symbolize her transformation from a closed and protected stance to an expansive opening of her heart. The wings allow others to feel uplifted with the ability to soar into new inner and outer realms.

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Agave Wings and Agave Aureoles have been exhibitied in Project for Empty Space Bacchanal in Newark, NJ in 2016 - Upper Buena Vista during Art Basel & Regenaissance Exhibition with Design Science Studio during Miami Art Week in Miami, FL in 2021 - Art With Me Festival in Miami, FL in 2021 - Relentless Divinity solo exhibition at the Community Gallery in Santa Fe, NM in 2024 - Southside Library and Convention Center in Santa Fe, NM in 2024 - Agave Hertitage Festivalo at Hotel Cngress in Tucson, AZ in 2017-2019 - Bolshevita [Boutique] window display in Jerome, AZ in 2018. There are numerous Agave Wing commissions displayed ranging from 2' - 22'. The agave scultpures are made archivally to last 100 years. New agave designs [⚡] are currently in the works! See instagram for updates.