History and healing in geological layers
Amber is solidified resin – tangible evidence that damage has occurred, but also that a healing process is underway. It is precisely this complex duality that is reflected in the monotypes in Manju Jatta's Amber Series.
The ambiguity of indigo
In the monotypes of the Amber Series, earth pigments and indigo meet, and here the encapsulated material functions as a protected, blue core. The artworks weave together material and color with historical linguistics by linking indigo to the Old Norse word blár. In bounded Old Swedish and Old Norse, the word denoted both blue and black without distinction. This color connection carries a deeper symbolism; namely, a connection to blackness in Scandinavia. Something that has existed here for a long time, but perhaps not always being made visible.
Geological layers and colonial traces
When the earth pigments and indigo merge on the paper, visual structures are formed that are reminiscent of geological layers. This material collision is deeply intentional. Indigo is historically one of the most exploited and extracted materials of colonialism. Encapsulating the indigo in earth pigments – literally burying it in the earth – becomes an artistic and philosophical reflection. It is a way of investigating what is actually preserved beneath the surface of a specific place, in the specific history of Sweden, which is illuminated through Manju Jatta's Amber Series.
See all the artworks in the Amber Series here.