Children’s Indigo Dreams

Celebrating the Young Artists of the Indigo Matrix

Inviting young artists to participate in the Indigo Matrix project was a big part of the vision from the beginning. All in all around 60 children contributed work. Most providing vision strips to the sail for the Navigation installation, and 12 participating in a workshop created paste resist panels with pictures of what brings them happiness. The panels were arranged together onto two canvases as an extension to the matrix walls.

Before being sewn into the sail, the over 130 strips from all age groups were dyed by a group of 4 homeschool students who Iris works with regularly. The young dyers first sorted, and then used a variety of clamp resist techniques on the strips before dyeing them for added interest.

Finally, three Astoria High School Seniors joined the effort. Adopting the Indigo Matrix as their senior projects. They helped in many ways including: helping to hang, photograph, and take down the show, co-teaching two children’s art workshops with Iris, organizing a private art reception for the young artists and their families during the show. This age appropriate event allowed the children to celebrate their work with each other and their families. Seeing their work hung along side the work of adult artists in a gallery setting was very exciting for them.

Involving young artists emphasizes what so many of us value, and contributes to our efforts for a more just and kind world for all.