I am interested in themes of place-making and the importance of local color and fiber objects' interrelation of living beings and place. Connecting deeply to heart and nature as a pathway to healing I am interested in supporting ancestral remembrance as a conduit to truth and wholeness. As a person who grew up with family incarceration and an immigrant father, I have a deep understanding of generational trauma, mental illness, and navigating the system. I know firsthand how systemic and racial injustice creates environments of inequity in our communities.
The traditions and access of working with natural materials has long been denied to many people of color, but the cultural significance with these materials is innate. The folklore and community wisdom inherent in natural dyeing and fiber arts is at risk of being lost. By understanding the plants which grow around us and working symbiotically with them and with ourselves, we preserve the greatest tradition. Alchemizing with natural dyes through fiber art is a ceremony of remembrance with my ancestors, connecting me to them and the land. I seek to investigate these relationships and look to research and explore the tradition that used to be passed down from kin to kin to transmute regenerative action through craft.
Hand made pulp painting paper with yellow ochre, ercolana red, cypress blue, and charcoal natural mineral earth pigments on abaca backing paper.
"Manzanilla through Barbed Wire" Hand made pulp painting paper with yellow ochre, ancient green, and charcoal natural mineral earth pigments on abaca with foraged rose petals, rudbeckia petals, and cempazuchitl seeds from personal garden in Missouri from summer 2024 backing paper. 2024. 8 in x 11 in.
"Cempazuchitl through Broken Chains" Hand made pulp painting paper with ercolana red, ancient green, and charcoal natural mineral earth pigments on abaca backing paper, and cempazuchitl seeds from personal garden in Missouri from summer 2024. 2024. 8 in x 11 in.
"Cempazuchitl and Manzanilla through Broken Chains" Hand made pulp painting paper with ercolana red, yellow ochre, ancient green, and charcoal natural mineral earth pigments on abaca backing paper with foraged rose petals & rudbeckia petals, black Hopi sunflower seeds from personal garden in Missouri from summer 2024. 2024. 8 in x 11 in.
"Disabled Melody" Naturally dyed organic cotton using marigolds grown at John C. Campbell Folk School handpainted with ferrous sulfate thickened mordant paste. 23x23”. 2024
Naturally dyed eco-printed silk scarf using wildcrafted Sumac leaves, wildcrafted Mimosa leaves, eucalyptus, and hydrangea flowers with a ferrous sulfate "iron blanket" method, modified with soda ash. 72x14”. 2024
"Ode to La Luna" Exploration of material. Shibori resist method with Iron Indigo Vat naturally dyed cotton. 25x25”. 2024
"May You Be Loved" Exploration of material. Naturally dyed cotton using Osage Orange screen printed with ferrous sulfate thickened mordant paste and hand-painted aluminum acetate thickened mordant paste. 25x25”. 2024
Yoruban Indigo on organic cotton bandana utilizing traditional Yoruban motifs such as the "moon" and the "stars" and "cowrie shells". 23" x 23". 2024.