natural dyeing

Since ancient times leaves, roots, bark, and flowers have been used to colour fabrics. There are many natural dyeing techniques, wich used myriad plants, as countless as the cultures and peoples on Earth. These traditional knowledges, passed down through generations, are alive even now in countries like India, Japan, and Peru. In Brazil, there are plenty of dye plants and most of them are medicinal too. Even though the name Brazil comes from brazilwood, which is the tree from which we can extract a red pigment, these knowledges are disappearing in our country. Nowadays, there is a movement to rescue these traditions, which is fundamental, not only for the sustainable reasons, but mainly to strengthen our roots as a unique culture. Basically, I work with 2 techniques: the traditional natural dyeing and the botanical contact printing or eco-print.

Natural dyeing with anileira or Brazilian indigo

Urucum ou annato (Bixa orellana)

Macela (Achyrocline alata)

traditional natural dyeing

This is the oldest known technique to dye. I call it “Traditional natural dyeing” because we can find it in the millenary tradition of many cultures. There are countless receipts, which are specific for each plant and each tradition. But the principle is the same: the plant is boiled in water to extract the colour, and then, the fabric is dipped in this dyeing bath. A variety of mordants can be used to fix and modify the colour of the fabric (refer to the glossary below).

botanical contact printing or eco-print

Botanical contact printing is a natural dyeing technique in which the dye plants are placed directly on a media support. The fabric is rolled to make a bundle – paper can be pressed – and it is placed in boiling water or steam. The plants´ pigments will be released on the fabric to create forms and colours. This process result is unpredictable: each piece of printed fabric is unique. It´s almost impossible to repeat the same print, which brings enchantment to this technique. The name eco-print was created by India Flint, a textile artist to who the invention of this process was attributed.

Making the bundle

Flamboyant (Delonix regia)

Textile art panel made using botanical contact printing

Silk scarf cotton-tree flower

Eucalyptus, flamboyant, blackjack and cotton-tree flower

Silk scarf eucalyptus, flamboyant, blackjack and cotton-tree flower

Eco-print bundles

Unrolling bundle with purple glory tree flower

Glossary


Mordant: Substance associated with dyeing with the specific function of maintaining colour durability, providing greater resistance to washing and exposure to the sun. It can be of vegetable origins, such as tannin (a substance extracted from the bark of some plants) or minerals, such as alum (humid stone) or iron acetate.
 
Dyeing plants: are considered all species that contain in one or more different parts (root, trunk, branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds) high concentrations of colouring principles such as phenolic alcohols, tannins, flavonoids and anthraquinones.
 
Shibori: (in Japanese: 絞 り) is a Japanese manual dyeing technique that produces patterns on the fabric. The technique consists of sewing, folding, tying or attaching the fabric and then dipping it in dye; the tied or tied parts are not dyed.
 
Source:
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibori
http://lasplantastintoreas.blogspot.com.br/

Eco-print with purple glory tree flower

Eucalyptus

Impressão botânica ou ecoprint com uma mistura de plantas