Crystal Rose Demientieff Worl is Tlingit Athabascan from Raven moiety, Sockeye Clan, from the Raven House. She is a child of a Thunderbird and from the Chilkat region in Southeast Alaska. From her mother’s side, she is Deg Hit’an Athabascan from Fairbanks Alaska. Raised between Fairbanks and Juneau, she was introduced at a young age to her traditional arts, practices, and storytelling. In 2013 Crystal earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Jewelry Metals and an Associate’s of Fine Art in Moving Images from the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Crystal experiments with kiln-cast glass, printmaking, painting, and silversmithing. She recently began working with fish skin, seal gut-skin, and furs. Crystal studies traditional Tlingit formline design and Athabascan beadwork patterns. She experiments applying her designs within mixed media and performance, including aerial dancing. She practices the recreation and modernization of her Clan’s stories and Raven stories from home. Her work explores the relationships and bonds between her people, the land, and the animals.
Today Crystal lives in Juneau, Alaska working as a co-owner of Trickster Company with her brother Rico Worl. Trickster Company promotes innovative indigenous design focused on the Northwest Coast art and exploration of themes and issues in Native culture.
Photo by Alejandro Chavarria (AC Media, Vancouver BC)
Photo by Donavan Johnson
Artist Statement
I am Tlingit and Athabascan from Juneau and Fairbanks, Alaska. My mother Beverly Demientieff is Deg Hit’an Athabascan from Holy Cross, Alaska. My father Rodney Worl is Tlingit from the Thunderbird Clan. I am Raven moiety, Lukaahadi Sockeye Clan, from the Raven House from the Chilkat region of Southeast Alaska.
I am a storyteller, a dancer, and an artist. As a visual artist I create mixed media work with jewelry metals, kiln cast glass, printmaking, and painting. Many of my materials and dyes are harvested from Alaska, such as blueberries, fireweed, and wood. Recently I have been studying how to work with animal hides, skins, intestine, and furs.
The stories I share in my art are about Raven. The forms I focus on are based on traditional Tlingit design that are often intertwined with Athabascan beadwork design. I practice the recreation and modernization of Tlingit and Athabascan designs.
The purpose of my art is to bring attention to cultural growth and discovery. My creative process is a means to bridge my experiences between two worlds, the traditional worlds of Tlingit, and the modern world. I create art to share my ancestral knowledge of creation and life and pass on old values to the new generations.
Resume
Education
Apprenticeship with Preston Singletary, Tlingit Glass Artist April 2015
Pilchuck Glass, Kiln-Formed Glass and Public Art July 30-August 16, 2013
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) 2009-2013
BFA Studio Arts (Honors) & AFA Moving Images (Honors)
Exhibitions
Decolonize Alaska, Bunnell Arts in Homer, Alaska, Valdez Museum, Alaska State Museum, Alaska Humanities Forum 2016-2017
Orenda Art International Gallery, Paris, France May/June 2016
Diaspora (Indigenous Artist Collective) "Future Tense", Anchorage Museum November 2015
Art in Embassies, Washington D.C./International October 2015
2015 20 Shades of Indigenous Collective, Blue Hollomoon Gallery, Anchorage, Alaska May 2015
2014 SWAIA Indian Market, Santa Fe, New Mexico August, 2014
2011 Marist LdM Venice Biennale Program Exhibition. Venice, Italy
Worl Studio Art Show. Santa Fe, New Mexico May 12, 2013
Museum of Contemporary Native Art IAIA BFA Show Exhibition. Santa Fe, New Mexico May 15, 2013
Collections
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts – Santa Fe, New Mexico
Collectives
Diaspora (Indigenous Artist Collective) 2015 - Current
Northwest Coast Indigenous Women of the the Millennial Artist Collective - Coming soon!
Residencies
F.I.N.E. Artist, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh January 2016