While browsing through some of my favorite interior design blogs I found the image above by Australian photographer Amanda McLauchlan (via The Style Files). If you look closely toward the upper left hand corner of this mood board you will spy a few images of Pierres Graphiques by Ashes & Milk’s Artist Yoran Morvant!
This gave me an excuse to contact Amanda who, I discovered, has her hands full with a new baby (I can relate). She was kind enough to tell me about the story behind this photograph she did for Inside Out Magazine. It was part of an interview of the designer collective Polli. This was their mood and influences board in their studio. Neat right?!
Above hangs a modern noren made from indigo-dyed ramie. The piece is positioned alongside an installation of 1200 locks of wool that Rowland Ricketts created for Douglas Dawson’s gallery space.
As a lover or organic and natural materials, I am beyond excited to introduce you to the work of Roland Ricketts. He is something of an anomaly. Not only does Rowland practice the traditional Japanese craft of indigo-dyeing, he grows the indigo from seed to plant. It’s just my luck that Roland established a farm not too far from Chicago. With his wife and the help of students at Indiana University, Roland harvests a crop annually and produces a natural indigo dye which he uses to create his textiles.
Last week Rowland was kind enough to answer a few questions about his farm in Bloomington, Indiana and about indigo dyeing itself. Because there is so much information regarding Rowland and his work, I thought it would be neat to do this over 3 posts:
A Personal Interview + Exhibition at Douglas Dawson Gallery
Indigo Farming in Bloomington, Indiana
Indigo Dyeing the Japanese Way
Part One - A Personal Interview + Exhibition at Douglas Dawson Gallery
From November 5 – December 4, 2010 Rowland is exhibiting at the Douglas Dawson Gallery in Chicago. Thanks to Wally Bowling from Douglas Dawson and Michelle Geoga, who came out last minute with me to photograph this special collection of indigo dyed textiles by Rowland Ricketts.
Hung at the entryway of Douglas Dawson Gallery is an indigo dyed noren by Rowland Ricketts.
Nikko I am so happy that you are showing your work in Chicago. When viewing your work, I felt as if I was transported to Japan as the color of you textiles are so saturated with that distinct purplish-blue hue. Can you tell me about why you chose to create noren and about the designs you place on them?
Rowland If you don’t mind, I’ll quote a bit from some writing I’ve done about noren that covers my interest in them as an object, a textile, and an artistic ‘canvas’. -Oddly enough I don’t really see the noren I make (or any of my work for that matter) as Japanese per se in that I’m not interested in copying something from a culture that is not my own. To me the noren I make is an exploration of the idea of a suspended cloth partition. I use the noren format because of its overall simplicity which is a narrow width cloth joined at the selvedges and hemmed at the top and bottom. It’s a very matter-of-fact, straightforward presentation of the cloth itself. Nothing else is added, and nothing is concealed. There is a front and a back, but in essence they are the same, an idea that compresses the three dimensionality of the cloth into two dimensions. I’m especially fascinated with this last idea and how it emphasized the thinness of the material and the ephemerality of the division it creates. These ideas have been influencing my recent work – I can see it in there, but I’m still working out just how to express it in words, so I apologize if this isn’t very clear.
Below is Rowland Ricketts’s Indigo Exhibit at Douglas Dawson Gallery in Chicago.
Nikko I love this quote about your work:
Through simple forms and a straightforward presentation I strive to present the viewer with a color so rich that they see beyond the dyed material to examine all that lies within a color’s substance.
There must be something really satisfying to work with a material from beginning to final form. It’s like knowing the truth about something. What is your favorite thing about working with indigo from seed to using it as a dye?
Rowland I used to think that it was the idea that I could, on my own, comprehend and do all stages of the process – that I could understand a seed and a plant and do the composting and fermentation in a way that I could never understand – let alone actually make – synthetic dyes and the auxiliary chemicals they require. But now that I’ve worked with indigo for 14 years, I’d have to say that my favorite thing is the fact that it has nothing to do with me, or that It’s all much bigger than me. I plant the seeds, but the plants make the indigo. I dry the leaves and moisten them with water, but the bacteria on the leaves do the composting. I make the wood-ash lye and mix it with the composted indigo leaves for vatting, but again bacteria in the composted leaves reduce the indigo and make dyeing possible. I facilitate the process, but I don’t make it happen, so in a sense it’s a collaboration from which there’s always something to learn.
Below is a detail of an installation of 1200 locks of indigo-dyed wool. I love how it wraps around the corner of this wall.
Shown above and below, Rowland’s textiles are displayed openly and unhindered by a conventional frame so that the viewer may get intimately close and really see the textures. I love how transparent the fabric becomes the darker the indigo dyed it is.
Nikko In regards to the 400 felted stone piece and 1200 wool locks installation, I feel like they are have a much more modern approach than the noren. What inspired you to create each piece?
Rowland For me I wouldn’t say that one is more or less modern than the other, but I would agree that the wool and stones are unburdened by the recognizable form of the noren and the associations that form carries for people familiar with Japan. The stones have had many iterations over the past few years. The impetus for making them was precisely the desire to move away from the prescribed form of noren that I had been working with for a number of years and a growing interest in felt and it’s potential to capture the dye and the dyeing process. I’ve recently settled on the gridded format because, again, it’s a very straight-forward way of organizing information. As I started working with them this way I realized that they’re not unlike te-ita 手板 – a way of measuring the indigo content of the composted leaves by kneading it into a ball and pressing it onto very fine paper. The color of the mark it left reflected the concentration of the dye and was used historically to determine the dyestuff’s market in Japan. As an apprentice in Japan I saw a number of books of te-ita kept by by teacher’s family over several generations. Each page consisted of many blueish circular pressings arranged in a grid for easy comparison. I use the format similarly, again with the hope of drawing attention to the color.
Below is an installation by Roland Ricketts who created 400 indigo-dyed stones. Each piece was hand-felted, mounted on a stainless pin and meticulously set into the wall.
Nikko I think it’s really neat that you are Rowland Ricketts the third. I can’t help but to think that being named Rowland Ricketts III plays a part with your interest in an art form that is passed from generation to generation. Do you think you’ll pass your practice of indigo onto your children?
Rowland It wasn’t until I was 30 that I actually made peace with my name – it seems a bit pretentious, when in reality my family comes mostly from coal mining immigrant backgrounds. I am very interested in the idea of knowledge being passed from one generation to the next – my work with indigo has made me really aware of this. Still, I’d never force this on my kids – it takes an exceptionally crazy sort of person to want to work this hard just for their love of it.
Nikko I noticed that you have many roles beside being an arist. You are also a farmer, college professor, husband and father. Can you tell me how these roles affect you as a whole?
Rowland That’s a really difficult question… They’re all equally demanding and rewarding, and I guess that I’m in the space where they all overlap. Working with indigo the way I do, it both connects and permeates all aspects my life, often making life and art and teaching indistinguishable. Mostly, though it means that as long as I’m awake there’s always something that needs tending.
Nikko Thanks so much again for sharing yourself with me and my readers, Roland!
Stay tuned for more on Rowland Ricketts and indigo farming and dyeing in the Midwest!
-{ The photography for this post was provided by Michelle Geoga and Rowland Ricketts }-
-{ You can see more of Roland’s exhibit right hereandhere}-
One of my favorite aspects about attending SOFA is the opportunity to speak with some of the artists. Ironically I missed the chance to meet the fantastic wood-turner Pascal Oudet. I was concentrating too hard on photographing his work when he brushed past me and disappeared into the crowd. I wish I had turned around fast enough to express how much I was taken back by his work. -But regretfully, I didn’t.
Perhaps if I had spoken to him he would have recited this beautiful description about his work -
I love the action sun, rain, frost, have on natural materials. In the mountains where I live, they create beautiful textures and colours on old wood on barns and on slate layers. All these elements reveal and emphasize the inner structure of the material, and are a great source of inspiration for me.
Unlike most pieces exhibited at SOFA, Pacal’s delicate wood-turnings were displayed behind glass and were difficult to capture.
Above is a detail of a sandblasted wood-turning by Pascal Oudet.
Inspired by bleached and weathered driftwood, Pascal created a series of small scale transparent wood-turnings. Through a sandblasting technique, Pascal intricately releases the soft wood between the growth rings of a tree. I love Pascal Oudet’s reflection of nature. His approach is poetic and subtle just like Mark Hanvey.
To see more of Pacal Oudent’s work visit his website right here.
Also a big thank you to del Mano Gallery for bringing Pascal Oudet to Chicago.
Alongside with the DIY and Craft movements, Folk Art has become extremely accessible, making its way into many of our homes. Pieces are created out of salvaged materials, often expressing a cultural identity and includes artists who have been self-taught and developed in isolation or in small communities across the country.
Although not my usual aesthetic, I really enjoyed the collection of Weathervanes and Whirligigs that Hill Gallery exhibited. I thought it was interesting that the artists were unknown.
Even though he was a little out of place in the show, I really loved this Navajo Bear Rug (unknown artist).
To see more wonderful examples of American Folk Art, visit Hill Gallery’s website right here.
Last week Chicago hosted the 17th annual SOFA show which included a joint exhibition with The Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art. Having attended previously, I jumped at the chance to grab a press pass, left my 7 month old son Isaac with his grandma and spent Saturday happily saturated amongst some pretty fantastic art. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of my favorite galleries and artists from SOFA Chicago 2010.
There were a number of outstanding galleries from New Mexico including Tai Gallery who showcased woven bamboo pieces by Hatakeyama Seido, Tanabe Chikuunsai II, Uneo Masao, and Fujitsuka Shosei.
I particularly loved the detail and movement of the above piece Many Shapes by Honda Syoryu.
A special thanks to Tai Gallery for coming to Chicago!
Above is a stone from the 2011 collection of Pierres Graphiques. This is the fourth collection Yoran Morvant created for Ashes & Milk and I think that’s pretty magnificent of him.
I had a neat opportunity to be a part of Lucky Magazine’s newsletter this month and got to mention a few online stores, bag designers and blogs I absolutely admire. Check out the full article right here.
Also, a special thanks to Anna Blessing for thinking of Ashes & Milk.
I thought it would be the perfect time to show the face behind Ashes & Milk as well as introduce you to the newest member of my family, Isaac. He was born right here in our home on March 23rd and I’ve fallen madly, head-over-heels in love with him over the last two weeks. Naturally I will be spending a little more time on the home front this summer so blogging will be lighter than usual, though I am pleased to announce we will be offering the work of some fantastic new artists at Ashes & Milk in the upcoming months. I’ll keep you posted!
Below from left to right is my husband Adam, myself and baby Isaac.
I absolutely love simplicity especially in the form of organic minimalism, and am ecstatic to announce a new artist to Ashes & Milk who really captures the essence of this aesthetic.
Eunice Kim creates exquisitely saturated black and white collagraph prints onto chine collé paper. She delicately places each mark by hand to form an intimate map of cellular structures.
Above is Porous, a collection of collagraphy prints with chine collé by Eunice Kim.
Eunice was kind enough to share the details involved in her printmaking progress as well as some really great images of her working in the studio.
She works exclusively in the non-toxic printmaking medium of collagraphy, a process in which materials and textures are adhered to a plate surface, inked, and run through an intaglio press with paper for transfer of image.
Unlike traditional printmaking techniques, each plate has temporary life span. -Therefore each print edition is unique.
Eunice constructs the collagraph plate by putting down the modeling paste marks.
Taking a beautifully restrained approach by choosing to work only with very small dot marks, Eunice meticulously positions modeling paste on the plate surface a single mark at a time. She then carefully shapes each individual dot to height and contour optimal for printing. The dimensional differences of the tiny dots are almost impossible to discern by sight alone; therefore she relies heavily on her sense of touch during this stage.
Each dot is shaped to height and contour optimal for the printing process.
A completed collagraph plate inked, wiped. and ready to print.
