Worshipful Company of Dyers 550th Anniversary (2021)
This commission was to create an artistic timeline on fabric, representing the use of dyes as they were introduced through the centuries, to the present day. The artwork consists of two 3m long panels. One depicting the realm of Natural Dyes and the other Synthetic dyes. Following extensive historical and contemporary research the artwork, which consisted of hand and digitally collaged elements, was printed on heavy silk satin, stretched over a wooden base and framed with a hand dyed floating tray frame.
Natural Dyes Frieze Text Panel
This frieze is designed to represent the history and development of natural dyes. The complex layered style is intended to evoke a sense of the passing of time, evolution and change. A colour palette of red madder, indigo blue, cochineal, Tyrian purple, woad blue and a variety of earth tones derived from logwood and kermes reflect the variety, vibrancy and richness of coloured dyes derived from the natural world.
Inspired by Richard Haklut’s Principle of Navigations, London 1599, and referencing the East India Company’s promotion of Elizabethan overseas expansion, a backdrop of an antique world map suggests the global connections and discoveries involved in the dying industry.
The chronology of natural dyes commences from left to right with rich painterly washes of natural dye colours, which provide a backdrop for a tangled web of madder roots. A delicate sketch of Tutankhamen’s mask references the discovery of madder root in the Royal tomb, whilst the early adoption of text is represented by a pattern of gold Roman numerals which overlay an example of the early Worshipful Company of Dyers Charter document.
By contrast hand cut collages of English Blackletter represent the communication of trade and development of dye recipes. An early illustration showing the vat dying process in action sits in the midst of a flurry of Indigo leaves in the stunning shades of blue yielded by the alchemy of the natural indigo dying process. A world map illustrates the location of species Rubia and of Turkey red dying and a drawing of a tyrian shell sits in a collage of purples and crimson, contrasting with blue tones of fragmented blocks of alum crystal, used as a mordent in the dying of cloth.
The magnificent Dyers Coat of Arms takes centre stage with two swans peeping out to the left, and below scurry an army of kermes beetles which are used in the production of red dyes. To the right of the frieze a resplendent Henry 8th wears a richly coloured and bejewelled doublet, in shades of red and gold, which illustrates one of the Royal shipping vessels and represents the status and value cloth during the powerful Tudor dynasty.
Archive architectural plans of Dyers Hall Dowgate Hill, London, provide a backdrop to the right-hand side of the frieze, overlayed with a splash of cochineal red, a drawing of a brazil wood tree and a boiling caldron from which spill a jumble of printed letters, in shades of logwood mauve. A classic textile polka dot motive, in the shape of the wax Dyers Hall seal, is detailed with several of the Dyers Hall Freedom bearers of the 19th Century.
Inspired by Richard Haklut’s Principle of Navigations, London 1599, and referencing the East India Company’s promotion of Elizabethan overseas expansion, a backdrop of an antique world map suggests the global connections and discoveries involved in the dying industry.
The chronology of natural dyes commences from left to right with rich painterly washes of natural dye colours, which provide a backdrop for a tangled web of madder roots. A delicate sketch of Tutankhamen’s mask references the discovery of madder root in the Royal tomb, whilst the early adoption of text is represented by a pattern of gold Roman numerals which overlay an example of the early Worshipful Company of Dyers Charter document.
By contrast hand cut collages of English Blackletter represent the communication of trade and development of dye recipes. An early illustration showing the vat dying process in action sits in the midst of a flurry of Indigo leaves in the stunning shades of blue yielded by the alchemy of the natural indigo dying process. A world map illustrates the location of species Rubia and of Turkey red dying and a drawing of a tyrian shell sits in a collage of purples and crimson, contrasting with blue tones of fragmented blocks of alum crystal, used as a mordent in the dying of cloth.
The magnificent Dyers Coat of Arms takes centre stage with two swans peeping out to the left, and below scurry an army of kermes beetles which are used in the production of red dyes. To the right of the frieze a resplendent Henry 8th wears a richly coloured and bejewelled doublet, in shades of red and gold, which illustrates one of the Royal shipping vessels and represents the status and value cloth during the powerful Tudor dynasty.
Archive architectural plans of Dyers Hall Dowgate Hill, London, provide a backdrop to the right-hand side of the frieze, overlayed with a splash of cochineal red, a drawing of a brazil wood tree and a boiling caldron from which spill a jumble of printed letters, in shades of logwood mauve. A classic textile polka dot motive, in the shape of the wax Dyers Hall seal, is detailed with several of the Dyers Hall Freedom bearers of the 19th Century.
Synthetic Dyes Frieze
This frieze is designed to represent the history and development of synthetic dyes. This frieze is created in a rich palette which aims to reflect the incredible variety of colour made possible with the invention of synthetic dyes. A grid like structure provides the backdrop to the collage which has been layered with imagery to reflect the complexity of dye chemistry and the sense of reactivity involved in its creation.
The chronology of synthetic dyes commences from left to right beginning with the city of London skyline, which is a blur of movement and colour in swirling shades of violet and purple. William Perkin looks wise and masterful surrounded by colour chips of mauvine, which he discovered in 1856. His eyeline gazes toward a world globe, tangled in the chemical formulas which represent azo dyes. The hexagon shape represents both the symbols of dye chemistry and the classic honeycomb motif used in Shibori dying.
A diagram of Sharp’s stencil printing machine in 1894 and structural and skeletal dye chemistry formulas and graphs represent notable developments in dye chemistry such as; the first azo type dyes in 1866 and the production of synthetic alizarin in 1868.
Modern industrial dying machinery and a dye lab provide the backdrop to the right-hand side of the frieze. An early illustration shows a thermometer which was significant in the serendipitous discovery of synthetic indigo dying, which due to its uses in dying denim, is the most widely used commercial dye globally.
A hand cut typographical collage represents fonts from the digital era and the dawn of a new millennium. A colour space diagram, computer circuit boards and a myriad of collar chips reflect the seemingly limitless possibilities that digital textile design and production offer. To the far right of the image a flash of neon appears in the silhouette of a technical line drawing of a high visibility jacket.
Throughout the frieze half tone grain patterns, and blocks of colour reflect both the early adoption of photography in image making as well as the more recent pixilation of images in the digital textile printing process. A balance of informative, historical and technical images provides the narrative to this piece which is in part an illustration whilst the arrangement of the composition, repetition of motifs and decorative elements is also reminiscent of textiles design.
The chronology of synthetic dyes commences from left to right beginning with the city of London skyline, which is a blur of movement and colour in swirling shades of violet and purple. William Perkin looks wise and masterful surrounded by colour chips of mauvine, which he discovered in 1856. His eyeline gazes toward a world globe, tangled in the chemical formulas which represent azo dyes. The hexagon shape represents both the symbols of dye chemistry and the classic honeycomb motif used in Shibori dying.
A diagram of Sharp’s stencil printing machine in 1894 and structural and skeletal dye chemistry formulas and graphs represent notable developments in dye chemistry such as; the first azo type dyes in 1866 and the production of synthetic alizarin in 1868.
Modern industrial dying machinery and a dye lab provide the backdrop to the right-hand side of the frieze. An early illustration shows a thermometer which was significant in the serendipitous discovery of synthetic indigo dying, which due to its uses in dying denim, is the most widely used commercial dye globally.
A hand cut typographical collage represents fonts from the digital era and the dawn of a new millennium. A colour space diagram, computer circuit boards and a myriad of collar chips reflect the seemingly limitless possibilities that digital textile design and production offer. To the far right of the image a flash of neon appears in the silhouette of a technical line drawing of a high visibility jacket.
Throughout the frieze half tone grain patterns, and blocks of colour reflect both the early adoption of photography in image making as well as the more recent pixilation of images in the digital textile printing process. A balance of informative, historical and technical images provides the narrative to this piece which is in part an illustration whilst the arrangement of the composition, repetition of motifs and decorative elements is also reminiscent of textiles design.
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