Shibori is the ancient Japanese art of embellishing textiles with rich patterns by shaping and securing cloth before it is immersed in dye. I use variations of this process — wrapping or stitching raw silk, dyeing it, and afterwards enhancing the designs with embroidery.
A Mokume (wood grain) pattern is created with row upon row of running stitches that are pulled tightly and knotted before the cloth is immersed in dye.
Arashi Shibori involves wrapping fabric around a cylinder with string. Modifications allow for variations of pattern on a single piece of fabric.
Pleating and folding the cloth before stitching a resist pattern is a path toward creating a “repeat”
Aiming to incorporate dyed patterns with stitched imagery, I have developed a process where the two are intimately intertwined. The work is accomplished in three stages.
Embroidering an image with white silk thread on raw silk, I follow the surface planes of my subject with lines of thread, much the same as when drawing with pen and ink.
That white-on-white work is then hand-dyed with a stitched-resist technique, resulting in a pattern that envelopes both the embroidered image and the silk it is sewn upon.
The image is then coaxed back out into the open by re-embroidering with another layer of threads in contrasting colors.
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