Stacey Gillian Abe: Shrub-Let of Old Ayivu

In her paintings, Ugandan artist Stacey Gillian Abe adorns richly painted fabrics with hand-embroidered details – all of which are swathed around her distinctive indigo blue bodies. Whether poised and gazing thoughtfully out at the viewer from the canvas, or abandoned to an enigmatically personal moment, the women in Abe’s work represent both versions of the artist herself, and what she refers to as “the lineage of my ancestors I never got to meet”. The distinctive shade in which they are painted forms an oblique and beautifully rendered reference to the long, often tragic history of the colour indigo itself. Featuring two very readable commentaries on Abe’s work and a dialogue between the artist and writer-curator Catherine McKinley, this book is the perfect introduction to a breathtaking body of work.