This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with Ayobami Adeyemo.
Ayobami Adeyemo is a textile researcher/artist who studies and experiments with different dyestuffs and textile making processes. He has worked on the Indigo Shade Map team to research and study different plants that produce indigo all over the world. As of now, he is managing his own personal project dubbed “Ore mi” which is Yoruba for “my friend” as a means of learning more about natural dye processes and communication through textiles.
We met Ayobami through Rosa Chang, MICA and the Indigo Shade Map, an evolving online, interactive site that maps the locations, histories, and cultures of indigo plants, developed by Rosa Chang and a group of MICA students. Other independent projects that have been part of this initiative include a dye garden and alternative color lab in Baltimore, as well as an art and performance project that looks at the connections between West African indigo traditions and communities in Baltimore.
Watch the video recording here:
We are also proud to help Ayobami launch a GoFundMe to help him buy an embroidery machine! We never charge for FEEDBACK FRIDAY so could you maybe use this time to help support Ayobami to keep a family tradition alive?
Support Ayobami here.
NEXT WEEK we’ll be talking with Natalie Stopka on Lake Pigments.
RSVP here.
Natalie Stopka is an artist and educator focused on creative processes rooted in the materials and forces of the natural world. Her pursuit of historical surface patterning techniques includes natural dyeing, lake pigment extraction, marbling, and printmaking. These meticulous, layered processes incorporate materials grown in her studio garden in Yonkers, NY, creating a seasonally evolving vocabulary of texture and color. Her botanical palette of lake pigments and indigo is inspired by the recipes of 14th-18th century artists and marblers.
Check out her workshops, and follow Natalie on Instagram to get up to speed on her amazing work.
FEEDBACK FRIDAY
If you are not familiar with FEEDBACK FRIDAY, every week, we speak with dyers, artists, scientists and scholars about our favorite topic, natural dyeing and color. Curated by Amy DuFault, Botanical Colors’ Sustainability and Social Media Director and presented by Botanical Colors’ Founder Kathy Hattori.
We even have our own theme song thanks to musician (and Amy’s husband) Jimmie Snider!