- Natural Dyes -
2018
For years now I have been dying recycled or organic fabric with different plants from my own garden and its surrounding area. During the dying process of these colors, I wanted to have more and more. I became greedy, and it felt as if I could
taste the colors. As if I wanted to eat the colors. As humans we can see quite a lot of colors. This makes us see if fruit and other plants are ripe. It can also warn us for toxic plants or stingy insects. Some colors are linked to fruit, to sugar and energy, while others might be linked to poisonous mushrooms. At this moment I have a collection of over 150 colors. I brew vats of plants like nettle or goldenrod flowers. I let it simmer for one hour in a pot.
Selections of my color archive.
I need to prepare the fabric with alum and green soap to open the fibres up for the color. After another hour of simmering, this time together with the fabric, the color is dyed into the fabric. After it is washed and dryed again, I can change the existing color on the fabric by dipping it in rust, soda or vinegar. Sometimes a bright yellow color, for instance from goldenrod, can drastically turn into a deep green by only dipping it into a bath of rust and water.