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Data Studies 1.1: 86/96
cotton, linen, brass dimensions: 86.61 (l) x 59 (w) x 17 (d) inches
In Data Studies 1.1, I utilize archival records to document and weave migrational data from 25 Caribbean countries to various provinces and territories in Canada.
This particular piece reflects data from two decades: 1986 and 1996. While there are more than 25 countries in the Caribbean, consistent data from all of them was not readily available in the records. The work is crafted entirely from cotton and linen, both of which have profound historical connections to the West Indies and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The accompanying legend organizes the countries vertically and the provinces horizontally, which is accessible via the QR Code.
Drawing inspiration from West African weavers, the Quadrille dress (a bespoke dress worn by women in Caribbean countries) and the x/y axes of mathematical graphs, I use a colour and code matrix to visualize the collected stories: red and white signify 1986, green (chartreuse) represents 1996, and black with white indicates the overlap of the two years.
My motivation for the Data Studies 1 series is to explore ways to deconstruct and reinterpret Black archival data—often restricted—in order to create optical and spatial woven centers of Black cultural knowledge.
This cross-pollination of statistical information and weaving not only highlights Caribbean-Canadians interconnected histories but also seeks to transform how we access and understand our historical information.