craft

string and serendipity, a dye resist morning, and a knotty afternoon

Image | | Nhturner

we spent a morning learning and experimenting with dye resist. Am ancient and popular form of decoration by resticting areas of cloth in the dying process, a process practised whereever dye and textiles meet, known as Shibori in Japan. , Bògòlanfini in Central Africa, where fermented mud is used as a dye and knotting and tieing stones used as the resist Itajime in China, where carved blocks are used to control the dying, and in Kano Nigeria where there has been a tradition dating back to the 14century of indigo rsist dying where material is stitched into patterns

Kano aidre dye resist

kano dye pits, northern nigeria

japanese shibori TIE dye

Bogolan mud dye , MARKET in mali

Tie dye , popular in west in 1960’s

in the studio we tied cotton squares around blocks , bottles, stones, and dyed them with a cold dye close to indigo

we dyed the cloth for three hours, rinsed them and left them to dry

My four smaples were quite succesful, I learnt that the dye did not penetrate layers of tightly folded material and only coloured the edges of tied fabric. Given experimentation and more time I belive it is possible to make succesful and staisfying repeat patterns

a SERIES of square knots, the basic knot of macrame

we completed the day discussing and learning knotting techniques for Macrame a tradtional decorative craft. we earnt a variety of knots and some of us succesfully knotted small nets. I look forward to making my own net if I am marooned on a desert island. Both the dying and knotting were again examples of an intersection between skilled craft and art, making a very intersting and enjoyable lesson.

A Louis Vuitton handbag or a Salvador Dali print

Image | | Nhturner

In a fascinating class introducing us to the world of textiles , their uses, manipulation, decoration, and the fine line between a piece of art and a product,my fellow student SUKI presented an exquisite printed and sewn bag as her art piece, a  framed printed fabric as her object , Framed, and  priced. It was the perfect argument for crossing  the lines between craft, art, and the fetishistion of products.

A beautifully designed and constructed LV bag, the logo a major part of the product.
A signed unnumbered lithograph, one of thousands signed by Dali, another example of consumer fetishisation

I produced a pencil case

A product, a winsome hand drawn design, easily reproduced and as.  feature as a shirt pocket which could be reproduced and copied easily and cheaply

We were introduced to and learnt the skill of heated dye transfer.

Using a range of dues we learnt to apply it to thick paper in a painterly way. Using a flat plated iron ( a heat press) we transferred the dye to pieces of white polyester fabric. The results were rapid and deeply satisfying. The entire class took to the process with enthusiasm, ignoring breaks and reluctantly moving on to the next part of the process, dyed paper to be used in a process of blocks of colour or to be used in multiple printing using layers of colour and objects to block the dye

The original paper works with the brighter fabric 
prints. They can be used as a very painterly medium
Using organic material ( weeds) as a stencil and using multiple layers of dye paper I achieved beautiful and satisfying prints.

The day was stimulating, not only in the new skills we learnt, but is a series of interesting and provocative discussions about the blurred lines between art, craft and production, a place where the use of textiles easily finds itself