Naturally

My work all begins with threads, which I weave into cloth. Originally I was trained in traditional woven technique, which led me to weave functional fabrics in natural fibers for many years.

Most recently, my career has been defined by the discovery and exploration of the woven shibori process. Woven shibori transforms a traditional stitched resist into one that conjoins with a woven structure. It results in fabrics that completely integrate weaving, dyeing and surface application, providing a new freedom in fabric design. Woven shibori continues to challenge all that I know about weaving and has led me to investigate new materials, resists, dyes and finishing processes.

This group of work reflects my current exploration of Jacquard design and industrial weaving. I have partnered with The Oriole Mill, a small Jacquard mill in Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA. Instead of hand-weaving these fabrics, I have developed designs that are woven to my specifications on an industrial Jacquard loom using high quality pima cottons. After the fabric is removed from the loom the cloth is processed and dyed by hand in my home studio.

All fabrics in this collection use only natural colorants: either dyes or pigments. Issues of safety for the global and my own personal environment have led me to seriously explore the natural colorants. The use of mordants to alter single color dyes and the availability of natural dye extracts and pigments makes this a feasible approach to coloring cloth.

Catharine Ellis