Indigo Blue 2007

Ann Hamilton made this installation called Indigo Blue. It’s a mountain of blue textiles, maybe denim, that has come into being, not through paint or brushstrokes, but through stacking, heaping, and folding. I can imagine the artist and her collaborators, sorting and arranging, feeling the weight and texture of each piece. What were they thinking as they worked? It makes me think about the labor of textile production and the stories embedded in each garment. You know, someone wore that jacket, those jeans, that shirt. Each is imbued with memory. The indigo dye saturates the material, shaping our experience of the piece and its emotional resonances. The folds and wrinkles communicate feeling, intention, and meaning. The artist invites us to consider the materiality of our lives, just like painters have always done, exchanging ideas across time, and inspiring one another's creativity. It’s an invitation to consider the multiple interpretations that become possible when meaning is ambiguous.