The Future Is Lavender

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Artist: Nancy Monson

Title: The Future Is Lavender

Attribution: The Future is Lavender, 2021, Nancy Monson

Year: 2021

Materials: Collage, dyeing, embroidery, photo manipulation and transfer onto silk organza, Joomchi (paper felting), mounted on painted canvas

Dimensions: 30" x 15"

Image Statement: As a privileged white woman, I have come to understand how I have been socialized in a racist culture and how I am unintentionally invested in this system because it works for me. I don’t know what it’s like to be a person of color in America, but I want to contribute to changing our culture to be more inclusive. I want people of color to have the same opportunities that I have. And I want to be an ally without overstepping my bounds. I began this textile collage by using black Rit dye on many different types of materials—silk, wool, dryer sheets, cotton gauze, burlap, paper, paper towels—and found, as expected, vast variations in the way the dye was taken up by the materials. In some cases, purple emerged, which in the current political environment got me thinking about how polarized we are into blue and red states, and how we desperately need to merge into a unified purple country based on acceptance and understanding. This concept of a gentler country dovetailed nicely with the concept of the browning of America…and thus “The Future Is Lavender” was born.