We recently connected with Eugenia Alexander and have shared our conversation below.

Eugenia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

My grandmother is a Master Artist and i wanted her to teach me how to sew, quilt and dye fabric. She wouldn’t teach me unless i applied for this apprenticeship the learn under a Master Artist of my choice, it was insurance that i would take it seriously. I ended up getting the apprenticeship and chose to study under my grandmother who taught me how to quilt and also indigo dye. From there i fell in love with the gorgeous blue color and dug deeper into the history of Indigo which opened a whole new world for me and ended up leading to me learning how to grow and extract the color from the plant which lead to learning about other plants that possessed color you could extract. There really wasnt any obstacles that stood in the way of me learning more. Its a bit harder because where i live there isnt any one local thats on a master or mentor level that can teach me more about natural dying as well as the history of Indigo within the African and American history and other cultures as well. Ive pretty much been learning from youtube, instagram influencers that specifically work with natural dyes and trial and error with my grandmother. I do feel that both quilting fabric sewing and natural dying go hand and hand and are both essential because there is so much that you can do with both. Fashion, food production if you process the natural dye right in order to be a natural eatable powder which has been done and alot of people dont know that some of our consumables like food and make up are made/dyed with natural dyes.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Eugenia Alexander and i am a fiber artist, natural dye grower ( The Indigo Garden Project) and i also own a pop up plant shop, Living Ancestor plant Co. I wear many hats, but i feel at some point all creatives do. It’s in our nature. I’ve always been around both art and plants. Summer times me and my siblings would spend with my grandmother who is a master artist and we were always surrounded by her art, making art and she also had a love for plants. I started painting with interest when i was 14 years old. My first painting was a faceless Bob Marley ( i wasn’t confident in drawing face features). I actually got into fibers about 8 years ago simply because it allowed me to work as big as i wanted and could easily transport the artwork. Initially when i got into fibers i asked my grandmother to teach me how to sew and as a master quilter she wanted me to take it seriously and i had to apply for an apprenticeship to study under her. I did, and got it and from there she showed me how to quilt and also how to indigo dye. I loved the color and for some reason i was connected, like i felt a deeper connection. I started researching on Indigo and its process and history and feel deeper in love with it. That research led me into the world of natural dye. I wanted to be more sustainable when it came to dying my fabrics and eventually i started growing my own plants for color extraction.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I want everyone to know how important plants are to us. I may sound like the plant lady, which im totally okay with lol but plants have so much rich history. With out them we wouldn’t be able to breath fresh air. They heal us. They feed us. They produce beautiful colors that only a small percentage of us know how to actually extract. I want to be able to teach and provide the resources for one to learn. Either growing ,using, how to take care of and also just learning cool history about plants.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Theres lots of books that i keep in my rotation of reading and always highly recommend.

-Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy By Robert Ferris Thompson
-African American Slave Medicine: Herbal and non-Herbal Treatments By Herbert C Covey
-Creativity : Unleashing the Forces Within By Osho
-Red, White, & Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life – by Andrea Fesser
-Indigo: In Search of the Color That Seduced the World – by Catherine McKinley
– Freedom Farmers – by Monica M White

Essays that i absolutely love

Bell Hooks – HomePlace – A site of Resistance
David L Coon – Eliza Lucas Pinckney and the Reintroduction of Indigo Culture in South Carolina
Colleen Kriger – Textile Production and Gender in the Sokoto Caliphate

When it comes to natural dye knowledge

Aboubakar Fofana – Indigo Master
Brittany Boles – Indigo Master
Liz Spencer – Natural Dye Master

Contact Info:

• Website: Livingancestorplantco.com
• Instagram: eugeniaalexand
• Facebook: Eugenia Alexander
• Linkedin: Eugenia Alexander
• Other: Also working on a plant blog

Image Credits
Flance Early Learning Center ( mural photo)