Memory on Cloth

Shibori is infinitely more than the tie-dye that became well known in the late 1960s. Shaped-resist dyeing techniques have been done for centuries in every corner of the world. Yet more than half of the known techniques—in which cloth is in some way tied, clamped, folded, or held back during dyeing, to keep some areas from taking color—originated in Japan.

Shibori can be used not only to create patterns on cloth but to turn fabric from a two-dimensional into a three-dimensional object. The word is used here to refer to any process that leaves a “memory on cloth” —a permanent record, whether of patterning or texture, of the particular forms of resist done. In addition to traditional methods it encompasses high-tech processes like heat-set on polyester (made famous by Issey Miyake’s revolutionary pleated clothing), melt-off on metallic fabric, the fulling and felting that make it possible to turn all-natural fabrics into three-dimensional shapes, weaving resist (in which, for instance, a warp thread can be pulled to gather the cloth to resist dye), and dévorée, in which just one part of a mixed fabric is dissolved with chemicals.

Author Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada has been teaching shibori around the world for nearly thirty years, and helped to establish the World Shibori Network and the International Shibori Symposium. She coauthored in 1983 the authoritative Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped-Resist Dyeing, which in turn inspired many artists to add shibori processes to their repertoire.

The range of vibrant modern art covered in Memory on Cloth is remarkable, and includes work by artists from Africa, South America, Europe, India, Japan, China, Korea, the United States, and Australia in more than 325 stunning photos and illustrations. It encompasses fabric design, wearable art and fashion, and textile art or various sculptural forms. The work of more than seventy innovative designers including Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Jurgen Lehl, Jun’ichi Arai, Hélène Soubeyran, Geneviève Dion, Asha Sarabhai, Junco Sato Pollack, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Marian Clayden, and Carter Smith is presented, and each artist shares details on the processes that they themselves have created, making this an invaluable reference for artists in every field. A number of innovative artists who combine shibori techniques with knitting, weaving, or quilting are also included, suggesting new ways to combine innovation with more traditional forms. A final section on modern techniques gives extremely detailed information, including dye recipes, on various high-tech processes and the particular methods that individual artists use to achieve certain effects.

As informative as it is inspirational, Memory on Cloth will take its place alongside Wada’s earlier work, Shibori, as a definitive text that will help keep shaped-resist dyeing processes a vibrant and important form of modern art.

Features

• More than 325 stunning photos and illustrations
• Encompasses fabric design, wearable art and fashion, and textile art or various sculptural forms
• Covers more than seventy innovative designers
• Includes works by artists from Africa, South America, Europe, India, Japan, China, Korea, the United States, and Australia
• Each artist shares details on the processes that they themselves have created

Praise for Shibori (co-authored by Yoshiko Wada):

“In this age of hyperbole there is great risk in declaring a singular event. Nonetheless one has occurred with the long anticipated publication of Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing. Word of this book has long circulated in the inner and outer sanctums of the textile world with excitement and expectation building. This combination of bilingual, scholarly, creative and resourceful authors has brought us a classic volume . . . A masterful blend of historical material that puts Japanese textiles in context, clearly described and illustrated techniques along with information and illustrations of contemporary work from Japan and the West make this book an essential acquisition for anyone who proclaims a serious interest in textile dyeing, design, or historic textiles.” — Glen Kaufman, in Surface Design Journal

“Well researched, well written, well organized and well illustrated.” — Crafts Magazine