Arianne King Comer - An oak tree as a shelter?'s Page

~I am using the stools around one of my life-size metal and fabric-made tree for workshops and performances and reviving the historical and symbolical meanings of oak trees as community shelters in the world~

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"Wildflowers growing out from the side of the road...a rainbow...how a dolphin plays around you…those are gifts of nature..."

Arianne King Comer was drawn to St. Helena Island after studying textile design and indigo dyeing in Nigeria. The rural sea island bridged Arianne’s knowledge of traditional African arts to its American counterpart, the arts of the low country Gullah culture.

The Gullah culture is one of the most enduring legacies of West African slave trade in the United States. Tobacco, rice, sugar and indigo plantations of the antebellum south once prospered using the skills and labor of African slaves. Today, the southern Sea Islands are home to their descendants, many of whom preserve their heritage through art, craft, language, and cuisine.
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Adesola Falade processes indigo and designs fabrics for Arienne’s studio and boutique, the Ibile Indigo House. Ibile (pronounced E-be-lae) is a West African word meaning, "those who are messengers from our ancestors." Adesola says St. Helena’s culture, climate and landscape have some similarities to his Yoruban home in Nigeria, though his village is much smaller than the St. Helena Island community. The Yoruba are known for their advanced indigo dying and batik skills.

Indigo was grown extensively on the Sea Islands from the middle 1600s - late 1700s. Blue stained hands were a mark of slaves in the dye making and application trade. Though synthetic dyes are now used in the textile industry, organic indigo continues to be grown and cultivated by the St. Helena community. The plant’s green leaves, when processed, reveal a rich organic dye that Arianne uses in her framed artworks, pillows, furniture and African robes.