Presented by The West Harlem Art Fund

Haint Blue Waves Triptych is a sustainable sculpture honors Black alchemy, legacy, and folklore. A collage of various upcycled textiles ranging from cotton, denim, and silk sourced from thrift stores, FabScarps, and Materials for the Arts. Hand-dyed with Indigo to create an array of hues that resemble water. This historical pigment carried significant meaning for centuries before it became an American cash crop. Southern folklore says that indigo was better known as "haint blue” - “had the power to protect enslaved Africans and their descendants from evil spirits. The color was said to trick haints into believing that they’ve stumbled into water (which they cannot cross)” (SHOSHI PARKS, Atlasobscura.com). Upcycled poly-plastic garment bags encase the quilted indigo textiles to create a stained glass effect that reflects “bottle trees” a continuation of the Haint Blue folklore “sky (which will lead spirits farther from the victims they seek). Blue glass bottles were hung in trees to trap the malevolent marauders” (SHOSHI PARKS, Atlasobscura.com). Poly-plastic would otherwise wind up in landfills and the ocean, causing detriment to the earth's ecosystem and leading contributor to climate change.

The frame of the sculpture is lined in cowrie shells which harness spiritual power, and symbolic meaning that links this work to black folklore themes around water. The post of the sculpture is anchored in oyster shells to pay homage to the northern Black oyster legacy and sourced from the Billion Oyster Project on Governors Island. 

This work is a call of urgency to protect our beautiful earth, the ubiquity of toxic materials over natural materials, protest black erasure, and encourage visual, oral, and written narratives of black mythology and legacy in America.

Process Images

Dyeing upcycled textiles

(Cotton, Chiffon, Denim, Lace, Linen, Muslin, and silk)

in Indigo