Wood, thread, and silk dyed with foraged lichens, tannins, ocean water, urine, and plant matter.
Single Channel HD Video with audio, 3:45 min., May 2018
Images 1-6: video stills
Image 7-8: flag documentation, lichen dye vats
A series of handmade flags to communicate with the natural world, using nautical symbols and the semaphore alphabet. Silk pleated and tied shibori style, then mordanted and dyed with local tannins, lichens, human urine, and plant matter, BM&Y (Between Me & You) semaphore letters are performed as a mantra to the sea and forest and documented with site specific sound recordings. The movement shifts between coded alphabet and improvisational response—unraveling language into reciprocity with the surrounding elements.
One of several projects that employs natural dye and extraction as a way of engaging with plant species and place making.
University of Michigan Biostation, Pellston, MI
Deer Isle, Maine