The Blue Roots collection came on the heels of a series I began last year called Collected Marvels, Louisiana Roots. In Collected Marvels I paint fantastical vessels with patterns collected from far-away travels with Louisiana-native plants sprouting out of them. It’s a visual musing on travel, collection of experience, growth, change— and, at the same time, an acknowledgement that where we’re from, our roots, remain firmly planted.
In Blue Roots, the core concept remains the same. The patterns are collected and foreign; the plants are native and familiar. Here, the blue pattern on the vessel is derived from traditional Turkish Iznik pottery; the Louisiana-native plants include mamou, American Beautyberry, and okra.
As I was painting, I was thinking a lot about the state of things in Louisiana: the poverty, the oil companies’ free rein, the racism, the homelessness, the environmental catastrophes. I was thinking about how you can love the place you’re from, but it can still make you feel blue.
I named the series Blue Roots because of the color of the vessel’s pattern and the feelings I had while I was painting it. Later, as I painted more in the series, I began using other colors. But that blue feeling still remains, and so they all remain : Blue Roots.
Size : 22x30” paper size; framed to 27x34”
