Hillestad Gallery artist offers clamp-dye resist workshop

Elin Noble

Textile artist Elin Noble will present the workshop “Folds for Clamp-Dye Resist” from Sept.14-17 in the surface design studios in the Home Economics Building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus.

The building is the site of the Nebraska Fiberarts Initiative, a new craft education program of the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design.

The workshop runs from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 14, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 15 and 16 and 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 17. It is open to the UNL community and the general public but is limited to 15 participants. Registration is available here. The workshop is designed for all skill levels, and the dye processes that participants will learn can be used in everything from apparel to quilts to home decor.

Noble, the award-winning author of “Dyes and Paints: A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric,” holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in fiber from the University of Washington, and over several decades has built an extensive portfolio of exhibitions, classes, lectures and television appearances. Her exhibition “Vox Stellarum” is on view in the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery through Sept. 16.

“Folds for Clamp-Dye Resist” will explore the many variations of a Japanese dyeing process known as “itajime shibori,” or clamp-resist dyeing. The technique is based on the use of wooden boards held on either side of accordion-folded cloth, then dyed. This workshop offers an in-depth exploration of how the different folds, and the shape, size and placement of the wooden boards, influence the overall pattern. At least 15 different folds will be demonstrated as workshop participants use Procion MX fiber reactive dyes on silk and cellulose fibers to creatively exploit the tension between control and accident that defines how “itajime shibori” leads to unexpected and highly complex fabric patternings.

Noble’s workshop and the Nebraska Fiberarts Initiative are supported in part by a grant from the Pearle Francis Finigan Foundation and by additional underwriting from the Friends of the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery and the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design in the College of Education and Human Sciences.

For more information, call the department at 402-472-2911.