RECOLLECTION

ABOUT THE INSTALLATION

JOIRI MINAYA
BORN 1990, NEW YORK, NEW YORK;
ACTIVE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Joiri Minaya’s ceiling installation draws inspiration from “haint blue,” a pale blue hue traditionally painted on porch ceilings in southern US homes. This custom originated with the Gullah people, who believed the color deflected malevolent spirits (or “haints”) by mimicking the sky and water. Minaya intricately layers imagery of Caribbean flora, depictions of cotton and indigo plants that invoke textile industries and diasporic histories, as well as corrugated tin roofing found in the countryside of the Dominican Republic where Minaya spent some of her childhood. Wild rice is dispersed throughout the design, symbolizing its cultural significance within the African diaspora, while also alluding to constellations that were vital for navigation along escape routes to individuals fleeing enslavement. The result is a passageway that embodies notions of safety, spirituality, and healing.

visual description

Situated in a wide corridor, a mural is printed on a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The view, as we stand underneath, is as if we are looking at light reflecting off blue-green water or up at a swirling night sky. Abstract silver streaks undulate and swirl around a cosmos of blacks, blues, and greens. A slight disorientation sets in as we look upward at the mural. Are we on the bottom of a body of water looking up at the surface? Or are we somehow floating over the body of water in a warped moment of spacelessness?  Bits of leaves, rice grains, and puffs of cotton float along the length of the mural. 

Acknowledgements

Wallpaper production by Flavor Paper.

This installation is made possible with additional support from the Jerome Foundation grant and the Latinx Artist Fellowship.