Tag Archives: dyed threads

Spider Lily Red – Flare 1

Dress with a dyed lily petal on the beach.

Spider Lily Red – Flare 1 (2017) – Acid dye on silk.

A hand painted dress on the beach.
A hand painted dress on the beach.

Flare, as in, enliven.

A hand painted dress on the beach.

You would not find Spider Lilies at florists. They flower in fields in early fall as every other flowering plant withers, giving their distinctive red the perfect stage with no competing colors.

Since fall 2012 I have observed the lilies closely, especially through capturing their petals in macro photographs, as the ideas for this series crystallized.
The petals, about an inch long at most, while remaining nearly motionless – there are some, as they progressively curl – they manage to emanate the inspirative fluidity just as dynamic as that of the Ocean.

This is the first of the two-piece series with one half of a petal painted, on a slip, a type of garment designed to be worn closest to the skin not always intended to be seen by others, to enfold but also to express inwardly, to speak into oneself, in this case the language of the red lilies of the field, and of the universal, inspirative Fluidity.

Making of the series has been documented on this website.

A hand painted dress on the beach.

A flower petal dye drawing detail.
A flower petal dye drawing detail.
A flower petal dye drawing detail.

A flower petal dye drawing.

A dress with a lily petal drawing on night beach.

Above: Nightfall (2017, in association with the Ocean)

Edited Black and White Images

An abstract pencil drawing over ocean waves.
A dead gull on the beach and painted feathers.
A flower petal drawing over ocean.
A hand painted dress on the beach with painted feathers.
A hand painted dress with a wing drawing.
A hand painted dress and a magnolia blossom.
A hand painted dress and the oceanic horizon.

All derivatives from Dyed Threads series.
From top:
Spider Lily – early sketch, monochrome (2015)
Wing Diptych 1 (2015) The bird was photographed in September 1999, and became the inspiration for the Wing Dress series.
Spider Lily – study, monochrome (2015)
Wing Diptych 2 (2015)
Wing Diptych 3 (2015) The drawing was of an imaginary wing, and preceded the Wing Dress series.
Dragon Dress Diptych (2015)
Dragon Dress Prototype (2015) The dress in the photo was created around 1999-2000 with fabric marker as the first experiment for the Dyed Threads series.

Wing Dress in the Making

ALERT:
This video contains flickering / flashy lights and could-be dizzying movements.
(Strong sunlight reflections at the shore, and may be felt as disorientating camera work.)

In summer 2009 I started recording the creative process on videos – mainly of me working on my dyed pieces,
as a vlog version of my then blog “art is a process” (2007-2012) which documented the making of two Wing Dresses.

Above is titled “Wing Dress in the Making, October 22, 2011”, my most favorite, also one of the last videos of my finishing up the second Wing Dress “Velocity”, synched with a fantastic music I discovered through blogging.

The “synching” thing was what I somehow naturally arrived at. I had a lot of fun experimenting stuff that way.

Special Thanks to Ms. Betsy Grant for her piano piece – the short piece feels to me has the kind of preciseness I always adored,
to the point, on what it takes to become ready for love.

Last Edited: November 18, 2019.

Sunken Feathers

A feather drawing layered on clouds.
A feather drawing layered on sea sparkles.
A feather drawing layered on ocean
A feather drawing layered on sea shore.

Various images of the Ocean are layered over feather drawings originally created for my “Wing Dress” series.

The Ocean has been my muse, especially for the dress series, and during a long creative process my daily visit to the water fed me visions and the energy that deepened and lightened me simultaneously.

These images are my attempt at somehow capturing the mystery I’ve witnessed while by, on or in the Sea.

From top:
Underwater Sky 2 (2015)
Sped (2010)
Teal (2009)
Shore (2011)

Following two:
Underwater Sky (2010)
Flight (2015)

Clouds in both “Underwater Sky” were photographed looking up through the water during mid summer.

「Underwater Sky」の歪んだ雲は夏空を水中から撮影。

A feather drawing layered on clouds.
A feather drawing layered on shore.

Last Edited: November 27, 2020