BLUE BLOOD
Blue blood is an idiom that derived from Spain and England in the 18th century meaning “royal, pure and of high nobility”. Those who were pale skinned were considered blue blood. This term was used to distinguish themselves from interacial and darker skinned moorish counterparts.
Gianna Hayes’s work interweaves remnants of the past to engage with postcolonialism, pan-africanism, ethnobotany, multicultural identities and seed sovereignty. In Blue Blood (2021) she explores the hidden commodity of Indigo dye within the Transatlatic Slave Trade; the plant pigment rooted in black resilience. Indigo is a plant pigment native to West Africa and beyond, which became a cash crop that fueled the African slave trade in the United States. Indigo was cultivated on stolen land and processed by enslaved africans on plantations owned by the British. 2 yards of blue cloth was a common exchange for one enslaved human life.
This plant pigment was used to dye the original American Flag and garments worn by both the privileged and the enslaved.
Blue blood is an idiom that derived from Spain and England in the 18th century meaning “royal, pure and of high nobility”. Those who were pale skinned were considered blue blood. This term was used to distinguish themselves from interacial and darker skinned moorish counterparts.
Gianna Hayes’s work interweaves remnants of the past to engage with postcolonialism, pan-africanism, ethnobotany, multicultural identities and seed sovereignty. In Blue Blood (2021) she explores the hidden commodity of Indigo dye within the Transatlatic Slave Trade; the plant pigment rooted in black resilience. Indigo is a plant pigment native to West Africa and beyond, which became a cash crop that fueled the African slave trade in the United States. Indigo was cultivated on stolen land and processed by enslaved africans on plantations owned by the British. 2 yards of blue cloth was a common exchange for one enslaved human life.
This plant pigment was used to dye the original American Flag and garments worn by both the privileged and the enslaved.
Untitled 2019
Pigment print on Ilford cotton rag
35mm Analogue Photography
Courtesy the artist
Untitled 2020
Pigment print on Ilford cotton rag
35mm Analogue Photography
Courtesy the artist
Blue Stained Spirit 2021
Video + Sound
Courtesy the artist
Textile Installation 2021
Collection of hand dyed indigo on 2 yards of cotton
Courtesy the artist
Pigment print on Ilford cotton rag
35mm Analogue Photography
Courtesy the artist
Untitled 2020
Pigment print on Ilford cotton rag
35mm Analogue Photography
Courtesy the artist
Blue Stained Spirit 2021
Video + Sound
Courtesy the artist
Textile Installation 2021
Collection of hand dyed indigo on 2 yards of cotton
Courtesy the artist
“AS ABOVE, SO BELOW”
AIRSPACE PROJECTS ART GALLERY
2021
“Untitled”, 2021
hand dyed indigo on 8 yards of cotton
Rusted chains
This work explores the hidden commodity of Indigo dye within the Transatlatic Slave Trade; the plant pigment rooted in black and indigneous resilience.
Indigo is a green shrub, producing the bluest of hues. This plant is native to many countries and used In an array of ancient cultures. Indigo (Philenoptera cyanescens) is a sacred plant known to multiple tribes within West Africa; often used for medicine, textile dye, body paint, tattoo ink and more.
Enslavement of Africans increased drastically as a result of the indigo boom in the mid-18th century. Indigo Plantations developed in South Carolina, Georgia and the West Indies where colonists relied on the strenuous labour from enslaved Africans to grow, harvest and produce indigo pigments for their benefit.
The colour blue is woven within the identity of the United States of America we know today, from blue denim to the American Flag - both originally dyed with Indigo. Through genocide, exploitation, brutality on which the backbone of this nation was built.
This work speaks upon the significance of 2 yards of cloth - as it was traded for a human being. The 8 yards of hand dyed cloth in this work reflects 4 humans.
Indigo has transcended borders and enslavement horror stories, a reminder of the resilience woven within the black experience. Who would have thought a green shrub can bring as much horror as it does beauty? This work reminds us to look beyond the surface and investigate the interwoven threads weaving our narratives and nations.
hand dyed indigo on 8 yards of cotton
Rusted chains
This work explores the hidden commodity of Indigo dye within the Transatlatic Slave Trade; the plant pigment rooted in black and indigneous resilience.
Indigo is a green shrub, producing the bluest of hues. This plant is native to many countries and used In an array of ancient cultures. Indigo (Philenoptera cyanescens) is a sacred plant known to multiple tribes within West Africa; often used for medicine, textile dye, body paint, tattoo ink and more.
Enslavement of Africans increased drastically as a result of the indigo boom in the mid-18th century. Indigo Plantations developed in South Carolina, Georgia and the West Indies where colonists relied on the strenuous labour from enslaved Africans to grow, harvest and produce indigo pigments for their benefit.
The colour blue is woven within the identity of the United States of America we know today, from blue denim to the American Flag - both originally dyed with Indigo. Through genocide, exploitation, brutality on which the backbone of this nation was built.
This work speaks upon the significance of 2 yards of cloth - as it was traded for a human being. The 8 yards of hand dyed cloth in this work reflects 4 humans.
Indigo has transcended borders and enslavement horror stories, a reminder of the resilience woven within the black experience. Who would have thought a green shrub can bring as much horror as it does beauty? This work reminds us to look beyond the surface and investigate the interwoven threads weaving our narratives and nations.
…
Blue as survival.
Blue as a graveyard for black voices.
