Compose styles
Rather than blending styles toward a middle, this gives them roles. The first one carries the structure, the next comes in as the accent, and anything after that shows up in a single detail. Where they fight each other, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Kanga: Frame with a border and place a single image at the center
- Type
- Set in Kanga's manner (One line of proverb set inside the border, smaller than the central image), and let Mola's lettering (Run several contours around the figure at even spacing) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Kanga's material (Two-color print on plain cotton, made in pairs of the same design); bring in exactly one thing from Mola (Stack colored cloths, cut down from the top, turn the edges and stitch).
- Colour
- Build on #d7dfea, #d46338, #1f1819 and admit one accent from #c59414, #932628, #32231f.
Where they fight
- Kanga and Mola both belong to Textile Traditions, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Kanga Laying proverbs out as pattern without knowing what they say leaves the wearer unable to speak and can distribute an insult.
- Mola Fewer layers and a single contour stop the color from emerging through the cuts, and the panel goes flat.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Kanga (style, 1880s–) and their accent from Mola (technique, late 19th century–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Kanga exists for: cloth given as a gift that carries the giver's words with its image, or designing a garment that speaks, where wearing is saying. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Kanga - Border-and-center composition - Swahili proverbs - Bold two-color contrast - Worn in pairs Composition: Frame with a border and place a single image at the center. Type and lettering: One line of proverb set inside the border, smaller than the central image. ## Accent comes from Mola, used sparingly - Layered reverse appliqué - Multiple contour lines - Maze-like ground filling - Animals and geometry Let one material quality come from it: Stack colored cloths, cut down from the top, turn the edges and stitch. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #d7dfea, carry the structure in #d46338 and #1f1819, and let a single accent come from #932628. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: intimacy, play, rebellion, exhilaration. ## Where they fight - Kanga and Mola both belong to Textile Traditions, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - Kanga: Laying proverbs out as pattern without knowing what they say leaves the wearer unable to speak and can distribute an insult. - Mola: Fewer layers and a single contour stop the color from emerging through the cuts, and the panel goes flat. ## Across the four Keep the roles fixed in all four. Vary the framing, the scale and the arrangement so the set shows what this pairing can do rather than four versions of one picture. ## Constraints - Do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. - Do not reproduce the composition of an existing work. - Produce original compositions in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Kanga 1880s– / Style / Textile Traditions
Women along the East African coast wear this printed cloth in a single piece. Its three-part composition of border, central image and Swahili proverb (jina) makes the act of wearing an act of speech.
- Mola late 19th century– / Technique / Textile Traditions
Guna women in Panama make reverse appliqué. Layers of colored cloth are cut back and stitched down until every contour ripples in several lines, printmaking in fabric that is worn daily as the panels of a blouse.
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