LABOR OF LOVE
What if a flower could live forever? Through eco printing, it can. Natural dyers in Chicago have gone to great lengths to preserve color. I investigated a natural dyer’s approach to their craft to better understand the intimate process of extracting color from the natural world. The mordant, fabric and dye interact with heat and steam to combine the natural cloth with botanicals and results in an explosion of color. This photo story follows the process of Chicago based artist, Liz Mortensen, as she cultivates her natural dye practice by transforming thrifted silk garments from the botanicals she grows at her community garden plot.
What if a flower could live forever? Through eco printing, it can. Natural dyers in Chicago have gone to great lengths to preserve color. I investigated a natural dyer’s approach to their craft to better understand the intimate process of extracting color from the natural world. The mordant, fabric and dye interact with heat and steam to combine the natural cloth with botanicals and results in an explosion of color. This photo story follows the process of Chicago based artist, Liz Mortensen, as she cultivates her natural dye practice by transforming thrifted silk garments from the botanicals she grows at her community garden plot.
CHICAGO
2024
2024
