Flamboyant Green

These patchworks celebrate the Flamboyant Tree, a tree known across the Caribbean region for its fiery flowers . Every summer these large trees become enveloped in an explosion of scarlet, orange or yellow flowers, thus awarded names like Flame of the Forest or Flame Tree. The Flamboyant tree has many purposes in the Caribbean. It serves as a place of imagination for children as they play amongst its limbs, using the flowers and large seed pods for games. Additionally the seed pods can be used as instruments: when dried out they have a maraca-like sound, giving the tree its alternative name, ‘Shack-Shack’ Tree. Perhaps the most significant purpose is how this tree has become a symbol of Caribbean pride and resistance, as it is connected to times of emancipation of slavery for different islands. In my own practice, this tree inspires me to delve into stories that have been lost over time while retaining a sense of pride, joy and imagination for the present and future.