Alia Tahvildaran

Kast Grant Report 2018

Storytelling in Fibers

Creative Process

In June 2018 I participated in a 5-day workshop with fiber artist Karen Hampton at Peter’s Valley School of Craft. During this workshop, Conjuring the Narrative, I learned surface design techniques including natural dyeing, overdyeing, printing, painting, Shibori techniques, wax resist, and stitching on both new and repurposed cloth. As I work more heavily in fibers and shift my focus back to themes of family history, I was eager to learn visual and narrative techniques from Hampton—a master of storytelling fabric. Karen Hampton believes “storytelling can save the world” and created a class environment safe for storytelling and story-tending. Like parallel play in early childhood, fellow artists experimented and created alongside one another; you could listen and share at your own pace as you prepared fabric for dyeing, sketched or journaled, or pinned your work on a wall to self-critique. Figure 1 - Woodblock resist, stitched and gathered resist, wax resist overdyed with indigo This summer I focused on vignettes of my maternal grandparents’ experiences as Holocaust survivors. I felt that I would be able to honor their stories having learned from an artist who also uses a lens of anthropology and genealogy. Playing with time, memory, and history I hope to share stories of emotional truth, love, and at the forefront— Figure 2 - I carved a rubber survival. stamp to use for surface design

Natural Dye Extracts

Natural dyeing is a lengthy process that can be surprising and inconsistent, but is also highly valued for producing aesthetically unique color and being safer than hazardous chemical dyes. For most natural dyes the process is to prepare and mordant the fibers before dyeing. Mordanting for at least 20 minutes gets the fibers ready to bond with natural dyes and is done in a separate bath. Whether you are dyeing protein fibers (anything from an anima such as wool or silk) or cellulose fibers (anything from plants such as cotton or linen) the mordant is often a type of aluminum sulphate. If you are using a Shibori or other resist technique you would clamp, stitch, or wax prior to mordanting.

To dye fibers, except for indigo, natural dyes are heated and kept at temperature. Dyes are measured and dissolved and then added to the dye pot with fibers. The fibers should have room to be rotated within the hot dye pot and stay for at least 30 minutes. To deepen the colors fibers can cool in the dye pot before they are rinsed until the water runs clear and dried out of direct sunlight. A dye bath is exhausted once it does not dye fibers to the optimal color, but can still be used to produce lighter shades. Figure 3 Top - measuring natural dye extract, Middle - hanging indigo-dyed fabric in shade; Bottom - clamping fabric for resist dyeing

Environmental Sustainability

Textiles are environmentally intensive. In the clothing industry a single garment goes from raw fiber to finished product through a long chain of different suppliers and chemical processes all of which use lots of water. Fashion sustainability expert Clara Vuletich suggests one way to be more eco-friendly is to “limit buying new [textiles], and to treasure what you have.” Peter’s Valley School of Craft is situated within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and must abide certain laws as far as environmental impact. Gentler on the environment and following National Recreation area policies we used natural dye extracts on natural fibers. We were also encouraged to use repurposed clothing and other textiles both for symbolism within our artwork and for environmental sustainability.

Next Steps as an Artist and Teacher

I finished two large pieces of artwork that I started at Peter’s Valley workshop this summer. I exhibited them in GA’s 2018 Faculty Art Exhibit 2018. In my home studio I have used indigo and started dyeing with whole dyestuffs, such as goldenrod harvested from the Preserve, to create natural dye vats. I also created an avocado skin dye that I used with 2nd graders. I will continue to experiment with natural dyes and storytelling in fibers as an artist, and will continue to share this passion with my students.

Figure 4 - Alia Tahvildaran Sisters cotton, indigo and weld, block print, hand stitching

Figure 5 - Fabric Fun ASAP K- 2nd Graders Figure 6 - Alia Tahvildaran Displaced Love cotton, indigo and natural dyes, block print, hand stitching

Figure 7 Goldenrod transformed from plant to dye; 100% cotton dyed with goldenrod

Figure 9 Avocado skins simmered into pink dye

Resources Botanical Colour at Your Fingertips by Rebecca Desnos The Modern Natural Dyer: A Comprehensive Guide to Dyeing Silk, Wool, Linen, and Cotton at Home by Kristine Vejar https://botanicalcolors.com/ Clothing and textile manufacturing's environmental impact and how to shop more ethically Figure 8 – Top- 2nd grades dyeing with avocado skin dye in the new LS Tinkerlab; Bottom – a By Tegan Taylor; ABC Science; First posted 2 April 2018 variety of shades of pink