Natural Indigo Dye
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This page shows various textile work and pigment making processes mainly with natural indigo and some other dye plants between 2016 and present.
Like the River
-Video/Performance and Textile, 2022
Length: 6 minutes
Like the River is a short documentary film created to honor and remember Fletcher Mackey, a cherished mentor, teacher, and adopted family member, who passed away in July 2021. This film captures the entire process of creating his portrait on a cotton handkerchief, serving as both a memorial to Fletcher and a healing journey for me in the wake of this loss. Indigo dyeing, a practice deeply rooted in spiritual and restorative qualities, guides this artistic tribute. The portrait-making process incorporates soy paste resist and natural indigo dyeing techniques at Blue Light Junction in Baltimore, Maryland. I used indigo pigment in paste form, extracted from fresh Polygonum tinctorium leaves grown by urban farmers in Baltimore. For this work, I relied on a naturally fermented indigo vat enriched with madder root.
This short documentary film is currently available for viewing on the Indigo Shade Map YouTube Channel here. For exhibitions, I can submit a file of the film. It requires a sound system for optimal presentation.
Greenhouse
-Site-specific natural-dyed fiber installation in the greenhouse. 2022
Oak spring Garden Foundation, VA
An Indigo Dyer
-A portrait of a Korean female indigo dyer, 2020
12"x16", Gold pigment on natural indigo-dyed linen, stretched on wood panel A private commissioned work
Time, Space & Blues
-Blueprint Series
These 6 images of the first blueprint edition of Time, Space & Blues convey 8 months of a planting process with an annual plant, Japanese indigo (Polygonum tinctorium) from seeds to collecting seeds. Those plants were planting in my tiny backyard in Brooklyn from April to August, harvested in between August through September, and seeds were collected in late october in 2018.
Photo by Megan Elyse
