art and projects > - Blueprints

Since 2010 I’ve been using anthocyanin pigment from blueberries for screen-printing to create maps from family stories. I call these maps Blueprints as I believe that stories and the things we witness are like blueprints as they inform how we locate ourselves and retain a sense of belonging. In these video works I am continuing to work with anthocyanin pigment in a less illustrative way. Through straining the berries and encouraging absorption into wood and paper materials the pigment maps its own forms, and the metaphor of straining and absorbing recalls ways to survive through trauma, displacement and oppression.