of saltwater and sap // i formed // skin the color of dried Tobacco // eyes as bright as Cotton fields // formed
now // standing on fertile // sentient land // marked by Black triumph and grief // i move as a vessel ready to gather and sway
being birthed in the american South was Spirit making a medium out of me // for Story and Soil //
and
with this bestowing // i travel to conviction // towards coming undone and together // owning this calling holistically
aloe: (n.) a southern scientist bleeding saltwater + sap, honoring sound + sun, carrying softness + story
born on Kecoughtan land; raised on Muscogee, Creek, and Cherokee land; bloodline tied to the fertile soil of the Tuscarora, Cherokee, and Lumbee people through paternal navigation.
littoralis: (adj.) the scientific name for species that grow near the shore or coastline
scientifically, aloe is a wetlands ecologist and coastal restoration specialist with over a decade of experience in botany, horticulture, and landscape design. her current research interests are soundscape ecology as it relates to tracking species richness during restoration projects and marine botany of the Gulf of Mexico. other interest areas include cultivating subtropical landscapes, deep south native plant species, and effective plant collection and documentation methods during climate change.
artistically, the Gullah creative behind littoralis is a biodisciplinary archivist. her work primarily focuses on recreating and re-imagining Indigenous and West African lifestyles and preparations in ways that honor tradition while welcoming modernism and new mediums of archiving that further the story of the Coastal Black Southerner’s connection to land and water.
primary mediums: sound, story, chroma, flora