[Panel 1] Shibori Craft in Japan

Although the oldest shibori textiles found in Japan are from around the eighth century, similar fragments dated from around 400 CE have been excavated in China along the Silk Road. Since Japan adopted much of Chinese culture during the Tang Dynasty (c. 618—907), it is difficult to distinguish indigenous shibori methods from imported ones. Most of these ancient examples show small circles or dots (meyui shibori). Between the ninth and eleventh centuries, different types of shibori-patterned cloth were developed. Fine quality shibori was accepted as tax payment by the imperial court and worn by high-ranking ladies; shibori of lesser quality was worn by soldiers and servants. The eleventh-century novel Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki describes shibori-dyed robes worn by courtiers and shibori-dyed accouterments for a Buddhist ceremonial altar. By the fourteenth century many different patterning methods and designs had evolved, but the primary methods at that time were still binding or knotting and some stitching (nui shibori).

Around the fifteenth century, a group of textiles called tsujigahana (literally "flowers at crossing") became fashionable. Little is known about the makers of tsujigahana textiles, but their use of shibori processes to produce pictorial designs is remarkable. The designs were delineated with fine stitching and then capped to reserve the patterns, as the cloth was dyed in various colors. This is a major change in making patterned cloths, which previously had been embellished only by weaving or embroidery due to the limitation of liquid dyes, which tend to bleed. Tsujigahana were worn primarily by women, young men, and children; however, a sixteenth-century portrait of a famous warlord is depicted in a wraparound garment that opens in front to reveal an underlayer decorated with a tsujigahana pattern. The earliest existing examples of tsujigahana are a group of banners that were placed around Buddhist temples during special ceremonies.

By the time of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1615—1868), over a quarter century of relative peace had allowed the blossoming of culture that permeated the lives of townspeople including artisans, merchants, and entertainers. Approaching the seventeenth century, shibori processes became the predominant embellishment method for decorating kimonos. The style now identified as Kanbun kosode emerged during the Kanbun era (1661—72). The bold statement of the large design was often minutely detailed and decorated by kanoko shibori, dots tied by hand, a process that could take an artisan a year to complete.

Later kosode developed into a whole range of showy outer kimono robes (uchikake) and swinging-sleeved kimonos (furisode), both with shibori combined with multicolored, painted paste resist and embroidery. Most of the fine dye-work for expensive silk kimonos was done in the imperial capital, Kyoto, by traditional crafts-people working in studios or in their homes under the direction of established kimono producers. The sophisticated aesthetic style and technical virtuosity displayed by the Kyoto shibori textiles reflected the life-style of elite and cultivated consumers, which was far removed from the lives of the common people who created them.

On the other hand, modest yet lively shibori traditions have developed in various regions of Japan. These have served local peoples’ needs for clothing and for other utilitarian textiles, such as coverlets for sleeping and wrapping cloths for carrying goods. Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium) dye was the most prevalent for these local shibori textiles, except in the north where purple-root (Lithospermum erythroryzon) and madder-root (Rubia cardifolia) were used.

Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu united Japan, establishing the shogunate government in Edo (present-day Tokyo) in 1615, while keeping the emperor as a figurehead in the imperial capital in the west. To help with the planning and construction of a castle for his son in Owari (present-day Nagoya), Ieyasu commanded the assistance of twenty daimyo (feudal lords). One of the lords from Kyushu Island came from an area in which a shibori-producing village was located. Workers from this southern region who were brought in to build the castle used textile articles patterned with shibori techniques, which inspired the locals to learn to produce the blue and white textiles.

The shogun expected the daimyo to journey to Edo every other year to reaffirm their fealty. This increased traffic on the main highway, known as Tokaido, which connected present-day Tokyo with Kyoto/Osaka. The government established fifty-three stations along the way to provide for the travelers’ needs. Local governments also encouraged the establishment of villages along the route to secure the travelers’ safety. Arimatsu, west of Narumi, which was the forty-second station, began as one such village of eight families catering to the travelers with tea shops and shops selling footwear and simple shibori towels dyed in blue and white.

From this modest beginning a thriving shibori industry developed and has continued to the present day. The shibori producers of Arimatsu formed a guild and gained support from the lord of Owari to claim their shibori processes as unique to their region, prohibiting others from manufacturing similar shibori textiles.

During the same period, other regional developments in shibori occurred on Kyushu Island and villages in northern Japan (the Tohoku region) and in the present-day Shimane Prefecture at the seaside, creating products such as kisshou-mon, designed for local consumption.

Over the past three centuries shibori craft has flourished both in traditional cottage industries of folk shibori in Arimatsu and in the sophisticated urban environment of Kyoto. During the last years of the nineteenth century, Japan opened its doors to and made efforts to catch up with the technological developments of the West. One such effort was the construction of railways, which replaced the pedestrian traffic on Tokaido, seriously undermining Arimatsu’s shibori market. In their efforts to cope with the declining market, the artisans and shibori manufacturers in Arimatsu invented ways and tools to manipulate cloth in faster, different, and more modern methods. Many of the methods were based on traditional techniques, except for arashi shibori, which was entirely new in that it employed manual machinery in production on a much larger scale than ever before.

Subsequently, Arimatsu shibori made a comeback in the early twentieth century with innovative techniques and new designs that appealed to the popular kimono market. The yukata (casual summer cotton kimono), patterned in shibori and dyed in indigo, became a ubiquitous fashion until shortly after World War II. Both industrialization in the early part of the century and the destruction from the war affected traditional crafts production. Another setback was the typhoon in 1957, which struck the Nagoya area, damaging most of the natural indigo vats. This forced the shibori dyers to use unfamiliar synthetic dyes resulting in less attractive products.

By this time, realizing that Western clothing would replace most traditional clothing except for special occasions, Arimatsu manufacturers were experimenting with more expensive silk kimono production, which had been considered Kyoto’s specialty. With economic recovery and a postwar interest in traditional culture, the kimono became a symbol of luxury and ceremony. Shibori, one of the most laborious and overtly luxurious embellishment techniques, was well suited to the 1960s social milieu, and silk shibori kimonos and haori became quite popular before their market started declining.

[Panel—5] Shibori of the World

The common English translation of the Japanese word shibori is "tie-dye"; however, a more accurate translation is "shaped resist dyeing," which describes the inherent patterning process of manipulating the two-dimensional cloth surface into three-dimensional shapes before compressing them to dye. Three terms for separate shibori methods have come into international usage: plangi, a Malay-Indonesian word for the process of gathering and binding cloth; bandhani, an Indian term for the process of plucking and binding cloth in small points; and tritik, a Malay-Indonesian word for stitch resist. However, these three terms represent only two of the major shibori techniques.

Many different types of shibori techniques have existed in the world. The oldest examples–pre-Columbian shibori alpaca found in Peru and silk found in fourth century tombs along the Silk Road in China–are from regions where the shibori traditions have not survived to the present day. Shibori traditions existed for centuries in the Middle East and in the Indian subcontinent. Presently, active production in great quantities continues in western Africa, in southern China by minority people, and in the western regions of India. A lesser degree of production continues in northern Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia, and in the Himalayan region.

The materials and methods found in different shibori traditions vary widely, reflecting environmental, economic, and social specificities. The fibers may come from alpaca in the highlands of the Andes, sheep in the Himalayas, cotton grown in southwestern China, or from abaca grown in the jungle of the Philippines. The basic concept of shaped resist dyeing is apparent throughout a wide range of aesthetics, which are manifestations of cultural diversity.

South America, Nazca or Huari culture (present day Peru) third—fifth century ce

alpaca and natural dyes (various bound shibori on scaffold weave)

P9913.01.007.17

Each woven shape is defined by selvages on all its edges. Some of them must have been sewn together and tied and dyed, then taken apart to be assembled as patchwork. Three primary natural dye colors were used to create complex colors.

Southwestern China nineteenth century

cotton and indigo (stitch resist)

P9913.01.007.18

The tradition of very fine stitch resist dyeing has been practiced in southwestern China for centuries. Many household articles were decorated with auspicious motifs.

Mindanao, Philippines nineteenth century

abaca and natural dye (stitch resist)

P9913.01.007.19

Another tradition of stitch resist was practiced on the island of Mindanao on the cloth made from abaca and dyed with sappan-wood red.

Sumatra, Indonesia twentieth century

silk and natural and chemical dyes (stitched and bound resist)

P9913.01.007.20

This extraordinary cloth is called pelangi (rainbow) cloth and is often used for wedding ceremonies as a shoulder cloth or sometimes as a waist sash. The English term "plangi" is derived from this cloth. The multiple techniques are not limited to simply tying and binding.

Tibet twentieth century

wool and natural dyes (juji shibori [bound cross resist])

P9913.01.007.21

The thick woolen cloth is plucked, then pleated and dyed to make a mark in the shape of a cross. This is only possible with tightly woven or fulled woolen cloth.

Western India twentieth century

cotton and synthetic dyes (bandhani or bandheji [bound resist])

P9913.01.007.2

This yellow veil with roundels in the center is given to a women upon delivery of a baby in a certain groups living in Rajasthan. Indian bandhani textiles are intrinsically linked with the life passages of the women who wear them.

[Panel 6] Shibori of the World

The most prevalent technique in the shibori found in historical and ethnographic examples is plucked, bound, and resist-dyed, in a manner similar to kanoko shibori. This simple action can be subtly adjusted to create individual designs according to the material and the artisan’s intuitive decision based on his or her experience of the process.

For example, plucking a woven cloth tightly causes the fabric to stretch at the point, and after it is bound and dyed, the resist mark appears in a diamond shape, instead of a circle, because a fabric by nature stretches diagonally on the bias of the cloth. The extreme case of this is the hand-pleated and bound resist hidatori kumo shibori. When the same action of plucking is done on thickly fulled wool, the resist marks appear circular, due to the inherent tightness and thickness of the cloth.

The natural unevenness of appearance caused by folding the cloth to create shibori patterns relates to cultural preference. The right side of the shibori-patterned cloth is determined by the convex or concave texture. In kanoko shibori, Japanese prefer a highly textured surface, with tiny clear convex circles. Indians prefer a flattened surface of concave units, showing softer dots; for this effect, they fold the fabric once or twice in order to tie two or four layers of cloth at once. This time-efficient method results in softer dots on the convex side of the cloth.

A wide range of motifs reflect each culture and identify a social or tribal group, for example, complex laharia techniques in a colorful zigzag pattern unique to western India depict waves and adorn a maharaja’s (king’s) head as a turban.

Rajasthan, India twentieth century

cotton and natural and synthetic dyes (laharia [diagonally rolled and bound resist])

P9913.01.007.23

This is the only other process besides arashi shibori that patterns designs on cloth with a diagonal orientation. The cloth must be fine enough to let the dye penetrate all of its folded and bound layers.

Uzbekistan twentieth century

silk and synthetic and natural dyes (stitched and bound resist)

P9913.01.007.24

Little is known about the practice of shibori craft in Uzbekistan. However, the bold design and brilliant colors resemble that of ikat weaving from the Bokhara area.

Mali twentieth century

cotton and indigo (stitched resist)

P9913.01.007.25

Various stitch resist techniques have been practiced in Mali. Some are strong and simple like this handwoven cotton. Other more fashionable shibori textiles are delicately and laboriously stitched and dyed on fine cotton damask, then calendared (polished).

Tunisia twentieth century

wool and natural and synthetic dyes (bound resist [dyed on both sides])

P9913.01.007.26

This Tunisian apron shows an interesting peculiarity in design. After the cloth was tie-dyed, the backside of each tied unit, which appeared less clear, was dyed a second time to make the design appear reversible. Yet, the embroidery in this example is only one-sided.

Cameroon twentieth century

cotton and indigo (stitched [with raffia yarn] and bound resist)

P9913.01.007.27

Extensive embroidery stitched with raffia yarn covers linear design elements on this handwoven cotton cloth.

Kuba, Republic of the Congo twentieth century

raffia and natural dye (clamp resist)

P9913.01.007.28

The raffia cloth is folded and sandwiched by many pairs of sticks sewn together tightly to clamp resist long linear motifs. The variance in the dye penetration on each layer of folded cloth creates an additional design element.

[Panel 7] American Hybrid Shibori

The special characteristic of shibori resist is a soft- or blurry-edged pattern that differs from the sharp-edged resist patterns created by the paste- or wax-resist methods used in creating batik fabrics. The earliest shibori pattern is believed to be a simple circle or dot created by plucking and tying a cloth in a single point. A crude form of this type of shibori is what most Americans associate with the term "tie-and-dye" or "tie-dye." However, the wearable art works by American artists displayed in this exhibition are a far cry from the psychedelic tie-and-dye T-shirts, that enduring symbol of the 1960s and 70s birthed by the Bohemian and counterculture.

The main force that propelled the development of shibori from a handicraft to an art form in the West was the vibrant interest that North American artists took in the dyers’ art from various world traditions while pursuing their own creative expressions using alternative media and materials. Mainstream visual artists embraced a similar approach during the 1960s–making marks with paint and pigments on a unprimed canvas, staining the cloth canvas, or permeating its surface. The works of Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and Sam Gilliam, for example, parallel the sensibility of textile art. The fiber art movement born out of the milieu of the 1960s and 70s gained force, expanding art education in the universities, which resulted in the establishment of textile or fiber art departments across the continent.

The development of the relatively newly established field of "wearable art" overlaps with that of shibori, which offers unprecedented potential in creating a wide range of textures on cloth. The rich sensuous colors and pliability of the material respond well to the movement and flow of the body. The works now attract creative individuals, celebrities, and collectors; and wearable art expression has established its place between high fashion and art in North America.

Christmas Street Fair in Berkeley 1992

Photograph by Yoshiko I. Wada

P9913.01.007.29

Marian Clayden 1991

silk velvet and synthetic dyes (clamp resist)

P9913.01.007.30

Clayden heads a prestigious high fashion and wearable art company known for elegant, sumptuous evening wear made with fabrics specially designed, woven, and dyed to enhance the total statement. The black velvet was folded, clamped with cutout shapes, then discharged and dyed.

Karen Brito 1996

silk and synthetic dyes (arashi shibori variation)

P9913.01.007.31

Brito responds well to the inherent quality of shibori process where the imprint of the action performed on the cloth remains. By manipulating a two-dimensional plane to a three-dimensional shape and exerting tension on the shape while the silk is boiled, she sets the pleats resulting from this variation on arashi shibori technique.

Joan McGee 1997

silk and synthetic dyes (clamp resist)

P9913.01.007.32

Bold shapes clamped on the black fabric while it was discharged leave subtle undulation in the edges of the black shapes. McGee has been active and successful in producing elegant shibori-dyed fashion.

Joan Morris 1997

silk and synthetic dyes (stitch resist)

P9913.01.007.33

Laborious stitch resist has been one of Morris’s favorite shibori techniques. She stitches various large shapes, which result in a heavily textured sculptural fabric such as that used in the costumes for one of the scenes in Broadway’s The Lion King.

[Panel 8] Shibori Techniques

[title picture ukiyo-e]

Tokaido 53 Stations: Narumi nineteenth century

Kunisada Toyokuni

ukiyo-e (wood-block print)

L9913.01.055c

With shibori the dyer works in concert with the materials, not in an effort to overcome their limitations, but to allow them full expression. An element of the unexpected is always present. All the variables attendant upon shaping the cloth and all the influences that control the events in the dye vat or pot serve to remove some of the shibori process from human control. An analogy is that of a potter firing a wood-burning kiln. All the technical conditions have been met, but what happens in the kiln may be a miracle or a disaster. Chance and accident also give life to the shibori process, and this contributes to its special magic and strongest appeal.

In traditional shibori crafts, artisans have long been known to devise ways in which the handwork finds the most efficient route to achieve its production goal. They attend to the smallest detail, such as the choice of a tying thread. For miura shibori they use a loosely twisted medium-fine cotton thread wound on its own ball; for boshi shibori they use a tightly twisted medium cotton thread wound on a wooden dowel; and for kumo shibori a medium-heavy linen thread wound on a wooden dowel and soaked in water. Sometimes, the thread is deliberately changed to a different size in order to create a specific design effect.

In traditional arashi shibori, a slightly tapered, twelve-foot long, polished wooden pole is used to wind a narrow, long kimono cloth (14 inches by 12 yards) diagonally upon itself. The cloth on the pole is then wound with a tying thread that contributes to making small, puckered creases where the cloth is pushed and scrunched on the pole. Dyeing of these bolts of shaped cloth on the long heavy pole takes two strong men and a large trough-like vat. This esoteric process has been modified to suit the lifestyle of artists in both Japan and the U.S.A. In shibori there is a right way to do things, but, at the same time, there hardly exists a wrong way. The traditional way gives contemporary artists a framework not only to explore shaping methods but also to modify the materials and tools.

Miura shibori tying

Photograph by Elaine Faris Keenan

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An artisan in Arimatsu, Japan, is holding a cloth with dots stenciled, to indicate the tying locations. A metal wire with a hooked end helps the artisan to hold a portion of cloth that is looped twice and cinched with a continuous tying thread.

Boshi shibori tying, Arimatsu, Japan

Photograph by Elaine Faris Keenan

P9913.01.007.35

A piece of plastic sheeting is being applied around the gathered portion of cloth, which will be bound tightly to reserve the motif from dye penetration. A wooden stand with a metal wishbone-shaped hook is used to place the tying thread under tension, making it easier to tie the area accurately.

Kumo shibori tying

Photograph by Elaine Faris Keenan

P9913.01.007.36

Pleated cloth held to a point by a metal hook is being tied evenly and tightly with a linen thread previously soaked in water to give it strength.

Judith Content

Arashi shibori, American style

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California wine bottles take the place of the traditional heavy long pole. This more immediate method limits the size of the cloth to be dyed. The artist, however, treats the limitation as an advantage, and this smaller unit of shibori cloth is then pieced into a larger quilted art piece.

Joan McGee

Arashi shibori, American style

P9913.01.007.38

McGee solicits her family to assist her in her work, using a huge metal pipe designed to hold broad cloth for Western fashion. The traditional Japanese pole is designed for a narrow kimono cloth.

Kaei Hayakawa

Arashi shibori, modern Japanese adaptation

P9913.01.007.39

PVC pipes slip onto a horizontal steel pipe/pole held by a specially designed stand. The pipe/pole can be rotated by a motorized setup, which allows the artist to wind the thread with better control. Hayakawa often manipulates an entire sewn garment on each pipe.

[Panel 9] Kanoko Shibori/ Bound Resist

The basic approach to making patterns in shibori involves drawing up portions of cloth and binding each shape with thread. The manner in which the cloth is drawn up, how tight it is bound, how much it is plucked, and how many times it is bound by thread determine the pattern of the resulting motif. For example, if the cloth is simply plucked and bound, the motif is a scattered pattern of squarish circles. If, on the other hand, the cloth is plucked on a bias fold and bound, the motif is a diagonal arrangement of squarish diamonds. An interesting example of the relationship between the structure of cloth and the exerted tension of shibori binding is seen on a plaited shibori raffia cloth from the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. In this example the bound motifs look square or rectangular and are arranged vertically due to the fact that the cloth was plaited, in which case the yarns run diagonally rather than perpendicularly as in weaving. Portions of cloth can be drawn up by fingertips or fingernails as is done in kanoko shibori, or by using a small hook specially designed to pluck the cloth and hold the plucked portion while it is being bound by thread, as is done in kumo shibori and miura shibori.

Bara kanoko shibori/random bound resist dots 1998

polyester satin (heat-set)

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002l

Small puffed dots and puckered ground were the result of the plucked and bound process. The polyester is then heated to set the texture in the fabric. This stretchy white on white fabric offers high potential for fashion design.

Kanoko shibori/plucked and bound resist 1998

polyester, rayon (dyed and heat-set)

L9913.01.002k

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

The white fabric was bound to resist the black dye. The dye, however, only affected the rayon portion of this mixed fiber cloth, leaving the polyester portion hardly touched by black, although it was affected by the heat, which set the texture on the surface of the fabric.

Kanoko shibori/bound resist

cotton

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002m

This cloth was marked, then plucked and bound. It is now ready to be dyed.

Kanoko shibori/bound resist

cotton (spray dyed)

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002j

There are options in the way shibori cloth is colored. Vat dyeing is conventional, whereas spray dyeing is uncommon. Spraying from the side enhances the dimensional aspect of shibori, giving the design an almost printlike quality.

[Panel 10] Miura Shibori/Looped Binding

Miura shibori is called looped binding because after the cloth is plucked with a hook and a thread is looped around the portion twice, no knotting is done. The tying thread holds the entire bound portion of the cloth by tension. The greater ease in tying and untying makes this process cheaper to produce. Since the binding in this process is not knotted and is only looped twice, it results in a soft watermarklike design–a look that is very specific to miura shibori. The technique has been used for the clothing of the general populace since the Edo period because of the simplicity of technique and limited set of design variations. Yet miura shibori has been used abundantly in combination with other shibori techniques, successfully enlarging the visual vocabulary of the process.

The name "miura" is believed to have been derived from one doctor Miura, who came to the Arimatsu area from the southern island of Kyushu, and whose wife taught this looped binding process to the local people. Since it is cost-effective, and it is easy to vary the size, arrangement, and scale, miura shibori has been found in a wide range of utilitarian articles, such as futon (sleeping mattress and coverlet) and tenugui (wash towel or head kerchief).

Yatara miura shibori/random looped bound resist

polyester organdy (heat-set)

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002i

The miura shibori binding is not as tight as the knotted binding, and it is only looped twice, therefore it results in a soft watermarklike design, which is very specific to each miura shibori artisan’s style of binding.

Miura shibori/looped bound resist

rayon, polyester velvet

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002h

The soft bubblelike surface characteristic of miura shibori is used very effectively in this velvet fabric, which reflects light and changes color as the fabric moves.

Hitta miura shibori/looped bound resists in diagonal grid

polyester crepe de Chine (heat-set)

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002f

Small puffed bubbles are set permanently by heat creating a texture in the fabric. This stretchy white on white fabric with elegant bas-relief effect is inspiring for contemporary fashion designers.

Yatara miura shibori/random looped bound resist

rayon, polyester (dyed and heat-set)

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002g

The rayon portion of the mixed fiber fabric can be dyed easily, and the polyester portion can be heat-set without the dye affecting its color.

[Panel 11] Kumo Shibori/Pleated and Bound Resist (Spider Design)

Kumo shibori has long been known in Japan. A twelfth-century painting shows a simple hemp garment with a pattern that resembles this type of shibori. It appears frequently in the ukiyo-e (wood-block prints) of the Edo period (1603—1868), which depict the lives of people from all parts of society. In the nineteenth century, an unusually fine type of pleated and bound kumo shibori dyed in indigo on fine cotton became very fashionable. The individual resisted elements were set very close together, finely and evenly pleated and precisely bound to create an unusually delicate spider web pattern–often with an almost undyed ground, resulting from the fact that the resist units were so close together.

The artisans have expanded kumo shibori techniques by varying the amount of binding used to resist the fabric, which is pulled and gathered into hornlike units. The basic binding is applied from the bottom of the unit to the top, then down to the bottom before moving on to the next unit. The result is a pattern of radiating lines against the reserved white ground. Kumo shibori can also be tied by hand (te gumo) or with the help of a tool (kikai gumo). Artisans and shibori dealers in Nagoya improved upon the laborious hand technique by developing a simple tool that hooks a point on a cloth and pulls it into a cone shape while a thread is mechanically wound around it. The cloth has to be hooked and held by hand, but the winding goes very fast and evenly, thus making it possible to create a small spider pattern regularly over all the cloth at a very reasonable cost.

Several variations of kumo technique are shown in this exhibition, but the virtuosity that the shibori artisans in the Arimatsu area in Nagoya displayed in creating extra fine kumo shibori by hand-pleating is rarely encountered today.

Kikai gumo shibori/pleated and bound with a tool

cotton, linen (cloqué [lye shrunk])

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002q

In this cellulose fabric, initially an open weave, shibori protected areas from the light lye solution that caused shrinkage in the fabric. The resulting squarish tied design appears lighter and more open against a denser ground, creating a fabric design with a minimalist approach.

Kikai gumo shibori/pleated and bound with a tool

linen (cloqué [lye shrunk])

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002.01p

Te gumo shibori/hand-pleated and bound resist

silk

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002o

A straightforward te gumo shibori design in striking red and black colors.

Kikai gumo shibori/pleated and bound with a tool

polyester, rayon velvet [dyed and heat-set]

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002n

The mixed fiber cloth, initially white, was bound to resist black dye penetration. Only the rayon took the black; the polyester was untouched by the dye yet affected by heat, retaining the resulting texture on the surface of the cloth.

[Panel 12] Nui Shibori/Stitch Resist Dyeing

The unique effects possible with nui shibori are determined by the type of stitch, whether or not the cloth is folded, and the arrangement of the stitches–straight, curved, parallel, or area enclosing. After the stitching of a piece is completed, the cloth is drawn into tight gathers, along the stitched thread(s), and secured by knotting. It is then dyed. The cloth within the gathers is largely protected from the dye. The simple running stitch is commonly used and sewn evenly in a constant forward movement. The only other type of stitch used in Japanese shibori is an overcast stitch called makinui. This stitch is made over the edge of a fold of cloth, and stitching proceeds from right to left with a circular motion of the needle. The thread is not drawn up with each stitch, but the cloth is gathered on the needle. As the stitching continues, the gathered cloth is pushed back over the eye of the needle onto the thread.

Stitching affords flexibility and control to create designs of great variety–delicate or bold, simple or complex, pictorial or abstract. In fourteenth-century Japan, stitching was explored in combination with brush painting and gold leaf stenciling, as well as delicate embroidery, to reproduce stylized motifs from nature, creating an exciting fashion for noble ladies and warriors. During the past fifteen years, artisans and designers in Japan have been reinterpreting these traditional processes and patterns into modern fashion idioms, expanding the choice of materials, the size of design elements, and the finishing process from traditional dyeing into modern chemical treatments.

Orinui shibori/folded and edge stitched resist

polyester crepe de Chine (dyed and heat-set)

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002c

Orinui shibori and heat-setting of the texture create an effect almost like pin tucking or pleating in this undulating design. This effect is well incorporated into clothing in areas that interact with body shape.

Mokume sanbu nui shibori/parallel pleated stitched resist

polyester crepe de Chine (dyed and heat-set)

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002d

This nui shibori and heat-setting of the texture create an effect almost like pleating. This can be incorporated into clothing in the areas that take advantage of this permanent texture, as well as the subtle colors and patterns that flow as the body moves.

Nui shibori/stitch resist

silk

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002e

In stitched resist, the thread must be of a weight appropriate to the fabric and of a strength that allows it to be tied without breaking. Doubled thread can be easily tied after the stitching is completed and drawn very tight.

Mokume nui shibori/parallel running stitch resist (woodgrain pattern)

polyester crepe de Chine

Manufacturer: Suzusan Company, Nagoya, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

L9913.01.002a

A single line of running stitches made in a single layer of cloth results in a broken line of resisted marks. The balance of light and dark in this design gives it a textural quality unusual in stitch resist patterning. Its beauty lies in the undulation of the dark lines as they join and break and join again.

[Panel 13] Suji Shibori/Pleating

Hand-pleating vertically along the length of the narrow and long bolt of kimono cloth (14 inches by 12 yards) developed into a shibori technique in Japan. A thread winds around the hand pleated fabric to maintain the pleat pattern. Before dyeing, the entire pleated length is bound very tightly with thread in order to expose only the peaks of each pleat to the dye, resulting in vertically striped patterns. There are ways to create a wide variety of designs by repeating the simple process of pleat and dye–changing the sizes of each pleat, of the binding intervals, or reversing the peaks and valleys of the folds. This traditional technique of suji shibori is relatively easy to master and inexpensive to produce. These fabrics were widely used in indigo-dyed cotton kimonos for the general populace and in silk underkimonos for the more privileged class.

The tatsumaki (tornado) process was used to improve the patterning of this suji shibori. First the cloth is hand-pleated over a flexible ropelike core for the entire length of the fabric. This method allows the complete resist pattern, as well as more precise and varied shaping of the folds on the surface of the cloth, to be achieved. Then the 12-yard-long pleated cloth with core is stretched taut between stands that rotate the cloth rapidly, hence the name tornado. The artisan moves along the cloth with a thread to bind it tightly at quarter-inch intervals to ensure that the interior of the pleated cloth will be reserved from the dye.

Later the use of the tatsumaki process expanded to include different ways of shaping the cloth by applying stitched patterns horizontally, thus gathering the fabric in various patterns and placing it over the core for additional resist patterns. Recent explorations of unconventional processes to imprint suji shibori patterns appear in this exhibition.

Man’s kimono early twentieth century

cotton and indigo (yokodan suji shibori )

Arimatsu, Japan

Collection of the Takeda family, Nagoya, Japan

P9913.01.007.40

Juban (detail of underkimono) early twentieth century

silk and synthetic dye (yanagi [willow] shibori )

Arimatsu, Japan

Collection of Yoshiko I. Wada

P9913.01.007.41

Kimono early twentieth century

cotton and indigo (Mino[thatched rain cape] shibori

Arimatsu, Japan

Collection of the Takeda family, Nagoya, Japan

P9913.01.007.42

Jun-ichi Arai 1982

metallic polyester (pleated resist and heat-set)

Collection of the artist

P9913.01.007.43

[Panel 14] Arashi Shibori/Diagonal Pole Wrap

Arashi (storm) is the name the Japanese have given to patterns created by resist dyeing using an ingenious process of wrapping cloth around a pole, compressing it into folds, and dyeing it. Indeed, many of the resulting diagonal patterns suggest rain driven by a strong wind. The particular subtle quality of the patterns is fully revealed only in a length of cloth. This process was first invented in the late nineteenth century for production of shibori in much greater quantities than was possible with traditional hand processes. Taking advantage of the fact that a bolt of kimono cloth is narrow and long (14 inches by 12 yards), the artisan wraps the kimono cloth around a twelve-foot-long pole, winds a thread around the cloth on the pole, and pushes the cloth into tight small crinkles. Eventually, four to six bolts of kimono cloth may be scrunched up on the pole to be dyed all at once, when the entire pole is dipped into a dye vat.

Textile artists in the West enjoy the broad gestures involved in this technique and appreciate being able to produce these fine patterns on larger quantities of fabric with less detailed work. In the past twenty-five years, Americans have successfully adapted the original process using a shorter length of plastic pipe and manually turning the pipe or winding the threads by hand. They have capitalized on the fine pleated textures inherent in arashi shibori, which become part of the finished surface and contribute to the sculptural qualities of many wearable art garments. Karen Brito, whose work appears in this exhibition, exemplifies this approach.

Reizo Suzuki

Shirt 1982

cotton and synthetic dye (chiri arashi shibori )

P9913.01.007.44

Reizo Suzuki

Shirt 1982

cotton and synthetic dye (ami arashi shibori)

P9913.01.007.45

Ana Lisa Hedstrom

Dress fabrics 1989

silk and synthetic dyes (arashi shibori)

P9913.01.007.46

Mastuda with Kaei Hayakawa

Dresses 1995

cotton and synthetic dyes (arashi shibori variation)

P9913.01.007.47