Adire Eleko

I draw inspiration from Adire Eleko, indigo-dyed textiles of Nigeria. The patters in Adire Eleko are made by painting a starch paste (often cassava-based) onto cloth with feathers, sticks, or combs. After dyeing, the starch is washed away, revealing intricate white patterns.

I love how the cyanotype process echoes this—where light reacts with the treated paper to create my own kind of “indigo.” I’m drawn to the grid structure and the motifs, each carrying meaning. I use these traditions as a foundation, while imagining new patterns to tell my own story. These works are both homage and reinvention—bridging designs from my ancestry with my own diasporic voice.