Aboubakar Fofana, Artist

Les arbres à bleus

First exhibited: Chapelle Saint Maudez-Lesneven, France 2012

handspun and handwoven Malian cotton, natural loofah sponges, fermented vegetable indigo

In West Africa, trees are considered like ancestors. They live for such long times and they see so much – they bear witness and hold secrets for the communities around them. They provide nourishment, protection from the elements, and many other essential things. This work is about the reverence we have for trees, their power and presence, and their wisdom. It is also about the alchemy of indigo. Held in the leaves of the indigo plant is a blue pigment that can only be made visible under certain conditions. The magic of how green leaves can make so many shades of blue is a tangible example of how plants nourish us on so many levels, not just providing food and shelter, but even clothing us in their fibres and colours, and linking us spiritually with the natural world.

Artist Website. https://www.aboubakarfofana.com/artists#/abres-a-bleu

 

Kirsten Perrotta, Student Work

Ball point pen and pencil on fabric dipped in turmeric. 

Ball point pen and pencil on fabric. 

 

Kate Barker, Student Work

 

A collection of pieces made for the Personal Project Assignment.

Cotton soaked in red onion skins, personal letter sewn inside. 

Sewing machine stitched. 

                                                                 Thinking of You

There are moments and memories in one’s life that you wish could remain forever, safe and untouched in their purest form. Pleasant Memories hold a softness to them they are fond and comforting to go back and revisit in times of unrest, but like most things time can take its toll and memories can be forgotten or a new event may take place and ruin the once pleasant memory and turn it into something painful. The desire to preserve what we love is natural, we as human beings do not handle loss in a positive manner, it can be raw, it can hurt, but in this work I wanted to hold on to that desire to preserve what makes us content. The letter itself is significant to me in a way only I will understand, but by wrapping it in a soft semi see through fabric it blurs that personal nature to suit any viewer in hopes to evoke the memories they associate with the item to overcome their subconscious.

Fragile is Feminine

Shattered Tea cup and Plate, Fabric Stained with Blueberries

In a symbolic form of mending as a transformational experience, I mended broken china in an attempt to make the cracks themselves more beautiful

Handstitched on cotton stained with ink. 

Vascular

Inspired by the organic marks found within the body, mainly the veins that make up the Cardiovascular system. The image of veins has always reminded me of unraveling threads that trail throughout the body, so it came naturally to me to desire to convey this imagery through my work. For this piece I used watercolor to create a blending color field in the background and followed the marks with stitching as to replicate the veins in the body as they would follow the paths made by tissue.

Fugitive

A fugitive item is one that will not hold permanence in this world, decay and destruction comes for all things. The many holes create a sense of fragility.

Online Database for Textiles

https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/c.php?g=177904&p=1171108

Li Ziqi

More to see on You Tube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoC47do520os_4DBMEFGg4A

Deeper

Deeper Than Indigo: Southeast Textile Symposium

Intro page with logo and pics of speakers.

Blue Alchemy: Stories of Indigo by Mary Lance

Corazon Cinema and Café

36 Granada Street

Free Showings Courtesy of Corazon:

Thursday, Feb. 21, 6:00

Friday, Feb. 22, 11:00

Saturday, Feb. 23, 4:00

Part of the programming for the Deeper Than Indigo: Southeast Textile Symposium

Feb. 21 – 23, 2019

Flagler College
St. Augustine, Florida

Go to website for more info on the symposium:

flagler.edu/textilesymposium

BLUE ALCHEMY: STORIES OF INDIGO is an independent, feature-length documentary about the history, culture, and revival of the blue dye. It’s also about remarkable people around the globe who are using indigo in projects intended to improve life in their communities, preserve cultural integrity, and bring beauty to the world.

WHAT IS INDIGO?
Indigo is a blue dye that has been in use worldwide for millennia, a vibrant color laden with symbolic meaning, a commodity that was once central to international trade and colonial economies, and the reason that blue jeans are blue. Indigo dye comes from plants. It produces a color so desirable that it was once one of the most important products in the global economy.

In BLUE ALCHEMY, we see some of this rich history but we focus on the uses of indigo today, both people who are maintaining centuries-old indigo-dyeing traditions and groups that are reviving it for sustainable and community development.

Women Make Movies, a non-profit media organization, is the fiscal sponsor for this project.  Major Funders: Patricia McFate, Avenir Foundation, and The Coby Foundation, Ltd.

https://wp.bluealchemyindigo.com/

Deeper Than Indigo: Southeast Textile Symposium

Info Graphics designed by Natalie Harris

Deeper Than Indigo: Southeast Textile Symposium

Susie Sernaker
Park Ranger Supervisor, Kingsley Plantation
Jacksonville, Florida 

Susie Sernaker discusses indigo production during the time of slavery in Northeast Florida. Photographed, recorded, and edited by Eva Shinavski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7XRfz1GcFY&fbclid=IwAR0kDR93UsqnK2ARtxlcsZZSEo3LnXoxEU6VsC3kVJ0JqXgx0cTXqv5DaKE


Regina Gayle Phillips
Executive Director of Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center
St. Augustine, Florida 

Regina Gayle Phillips introduces us to African textiles on view at the museum. Filmed and edited by Eva Shinavski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI-tJiR36lk&fbclid=IwAR1mtKsFaot5xE7H3CiWCBVnbn1DHyxhnCdFBN94piY-G-7Qx8IIBYYIUWQ


Matt Armstrong
Collections Coordinator, Governors House Library
St. Augustine, Florida 

Matt Armstrong speaks to the significance of collecting. Filmed and edited by Eva Shinavski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyKgdVGfung&fbclid=IwAR1gSaTUlBUM-X7AoLtTY0wPpYckApZwrN4qxDgMRS73DHrltN2_dqijsYs




Insert Father O'Reilly House interview here.

Deeper Than Indigo: Southeast Textile Symposium

National Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Fibers at Tovar House.
Curator: Elizabeth Kozlowski