The talisman book is built from a series of small folded components made from cloth and paper, enveloped by a soft cloth binding embellished with beads and buttons and small found objects.
It can be made as a substantial object for writing and drawing, or as a small keepsake ornament that may be worn on the body. In this intensive three-day class we shall make and dye both versions.
In making it we spend time sifting the poetics of place through printing and dyeing our cloth and paper with local windfalls, imbuing our work with memory and meaning as well as pattern and colour. We cover the fundamentals of bundle dyeing, explore slow stitch practice. Though we literally work on our laps, the techniques learned may be applied to larger projects when participants return to their own studios.
Using cloth, stitch, paper and locally gathered plant dyes [from weeds and windfalls] along with drawing, writing, mark-making and paper-folding techniques [developed especially for the class] we build two workbooks, one mapping the journey of our time together, the other to take forward on further wanderings.
India Flint
India Flint describes herself as a 'botanical alchemist, forest wanderer and tumbleweed, stargazer and stitcher, string entwines, working traveller, dreamer writer and the original discoverer of the eucalyptus ecoprint, dyeing for a living in the deep south of Australia'.
Inspired by the West Australian botanist, Georgiana Molloy, her published works including Eco Colour (where it all began) and Second Skin, have cemented her reputation for botanical dyeing. This expertise sees her travelling the world delivering workshops, exhibitions and lectures in far flung places that include Canada, Scotland, Ireland, USA, France and the UK. India's workshops are much more than learning to work with plant dyes, rather they are a 'whole body' experience where the reverence for the natural world can be a deeply spiritual experience that resonates long after the cloth has dried and participants have packed up and wandered off home. Gallery 152 is delighted to have the opportunity to host a three day and five day workshop as well as an exhibition of India's works in York in October 2020.