Natural Dyeing 01/16/2012
Add Comment new explorations into printing 12/15/2011
Eco Colour 09/11/2011
Some lovely ladies in my life have recently inspired me to revisit natural dyeing. While visiting the great white north my friend Sasha gave me one her wonderful indigo dyed silk scarves (which I wore all summer and decided I needed more in various colours) and I finally got to see Marja's eco-printed silk garments in person. She has been keeping me inspired all year with photos of her new adventures in eco-printing, a technique which master-dyer India Flint has recently published a book about, Eco Colour (a really great book!). So when I returned to Vancouver for my long awaited month long vacation I began experimenting with this new technique. Oh what fun it is! Seriously, of all the techniques I've experimented with recently eco-printing has made me the most excited. The process is simple and yet varied so you can get really creative, and the results are always unpredictable and exquisite. Each scarf has little details which change in different light sources (a characteristic of naturally dyed fabrics), so sadly it's really hard to capture these intricacies in photos. Above are a small selection of ones whose beauty were captured half-decently. Click on the photos for individual stories. xo Janna Grad show cont... 05/19/2010
 Today I visited the Grad Exhibition again and enjoyed the quietness of the empty gallery and just spending time with everyone's work again. This gave me the opportunity to take photos of two projects that I haven't yet shared in their finished state. Above is my Jacquard weaving called Radical Hospitality I and below are photos of all angles of Radical Hospitality II. They both speak to being in solidarity amidst disillusionment within a community (my church community) which is struggling with disagreement on the core issue of whether or not to welcome homosexuals into our community as equals. I truly struggled when I considered whether I would continue to attend my church if the decision was made to not fully welcome them. These pieces are about that process and struggle.     Process pics 04/20/2010
My imagery for this project is inspired by conversations around the church, hospitality and homosexuality. I will be attempting to wear my convictions when this fabric is made into a dress. The dominating image is that of a chalice which, in the negative spaces of stem, show two like-faces confronting each other; representing the likeness in gender among homosexuals who are in partnerships, as well as echoing the biblical scripture, 'God created man in His own image' Genesis 1:27 I am currently going to a Baptist church here in Vancouver where we are in an active and serious dialogue about this topic. I am extremely convicted about the importance of equality for gays in the church (and everywhere), and am feeling especially overwhelmed lately by the misinterpretation of the bible regarding the topic. I pounded flowers (representing hospitality) into the fabric to achieve texture and later dyed it in potassium to show the contrast of the chalices (silk) against the negative space (rayon). It is no coincidence that the faces are in the 'negative' space.  I later rusted the fabric with nails and found objects.   I then created a silkscreen of a chain and discharged the image on top, sometimes purposefully placing them across the mouths and eyes of the faces. I'm not extremely satisfied with the obvious image of a chain for the purpose of representing bondage, burden and restriction. I usually like to use more subtle imagery. For this purpose it works though since, when it is made into a dress, it will not be as obvious what they are. In some places I added chains with a foiling technique using gold foil.  Blueberry pancakes and indigo dyeing 08/24/2009
 My friend Corrie made a suprise visit from Montreal this week so we spent the morning eating delicious blueberry pancakes and Indigo dying fabric and yarn. It was such a treat to spend time with her in this way and on such a gorgeous sunny day.   My indigo vat in the laundry room..   Oh the wonders of indigo! | 
|
Janna Maria
RSS Feed