A sweetgrass basket sat behind indigo curtains Thursday morning at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. For generations, the baskets have been weaved by the Gullah Geechee people for both utility and artistic purposes.
Now, Mount Pleasant native and Gullah Geechee artist Corey Alston’s work will stay at the museum. The basket, dubbed Big Percy, is the largest Alston has ever created. It stood at about five feet in height and was ornamented with helixes and circles.
Alston said the work, while physically imposing compared to the rest of his catalog, was still rooted in the traditions of the Gullah Geechee community. It all begins with harvesting…