I’ve spent the past few months traveling and due to many unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to maintain my weekly notes as I’d hoped to. Thank you for your understanding and patience, and I look forward to distorting time—sharing gems from my journeys as they arise to my mind in the new year. In early January I had the opportunity to spend time in Oaxaca for @pocoapocoapoco Art & Ecology Workshop. We were privileged enough to get to know Oaxaca from a perspective of deep historical context--learning from local artists and activists who are engaging with important ecology and sustainability questions, as well as indigenous, cultural, and agricultural conservation/alchemic projects.
When I got home, I made this collage combining images from my time there with some notes of gratitude that have been floating in my mind since returning to LA.
Loose leaves 🍃:
December 14th— In Elsa’s studio in Teotitlán we watch a video archiving the process of harvesting, cultivating, and preparing Indigo pigment. We learn about a man named Octaviano Perez who reestablished this ancient practice to preserve the cultural legacy. We witness as they sow the seeds, harvest the plants, lay them down to ferment, separate their elements, spend hours mixing and stirring them, dry the pigment, and so on in what is a months-long and arduous process. I think about the sacredness of ritual and how the men, when interviewed about their work, spoke about how much they enjoy the somatic nature of the process.
Natural dyes teach us to lean into the magic / unexpected of nature. To not expect or try for perfection. To appreciate the non-mechanical, spontaneous individuality in all things.
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