Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Adire: Grid the cloth and rotate fields so repetition never sits still
- Type
- Set in Adire's manner (Treat each sign as a unit of proverb, one to a field), and let Shibori's lettering (Choose heavier letterforms that survive the unevenness of handwork.) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Adire's material (Cassava paste laid by hand or stencil, dipped in indigo, then washed off); bring in exactly one thing from Shibori (Resist the dye by binding and pressure, and allow the dye to bleed.).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Textile Traditions, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
- Two techniques rather than two looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show.
Caution
- Adire Repeating the motifs as pattern without knowing what they say breaks the system of proverbs and leaves only indigo decoration.
- Shibori Reproducing the pattern in print makes it another thing entirely. The bleed and the unevenness are the record of the technique.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Adire (Technique, 19th century–) and its accent from Shibori (Technique, 8th century–). Structural cues: Indigo-and-white resist patterns; Cassava-paste hand painting; Grid-divided imagery; A sign system holding proverbs. Accent cues, used sparingly: The bled white left by binding; Regular grain from stitch resist; Geometric ground patterns from board clamping; A texture that keeps the relief of the cloth. Composition: Grid the cloth and rotate fields so repetition never sits still. Type and lettering: Treat each sign as a unit of proverb, one to a field. Let one material quality come from the second style: Resist the dye by binding and pressure, and allow the dye to bleed.. Mood: Intimacy, Calm, Trust, Nostalgia, Technology. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Adire 19th century– / Technique / Textile Traditions
The indigo resist cloth of Yoruba women: raffia ties and cassava-paste painting and stenciling reserve white patterns against deep indigo, weaving proverbs and signs into the contrast.
- Shibori 8th century– / Technique / Textile Traditions
A technique in which cloth is stitched, bound or clamped between boards before dyeing, so that only the parts under pressure stay white. The result is left to the strength of the craftsman's hands and the movement of the cloth, and no two pieces come out alike even from the same pattern.
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