Allison Davis

While not explicitly female, there are physically feminine characteristics expressed within these pieces. The use of bright colors, abstract shapes, and stylized imagery creates a vibrant and light-hearted atmosphere which contrasts with the red and blue fibres mimicking blood and tears. This imagery is a nod to the historic oppression of women, and how the blood and tears of women facing violence is not yet a thing of the past.  I made this piece in layers, creating a visual patchwork of dyed fabrics. Getting close to the finish I experimented with using marker to emphasize dimension in the lips. I did not like the black lines I added to the surrounding shapes, so I ended up using embroidery to cover the marks. To reflect the historically female associations with textiles, lace in muted tones are used. It calls back to the delicate art of lacemaking and its obvious connection to decorating women’s clothing. The neutral colors as well as the way in which these ...

Miniature looms found in a multi-chambered tomb in Chengdu, China are the earliest direct evidence of pattern weaving in the world. These looms come from the second century B.C. While older looms have been found in Egypt and Greece, they were not pattern looms, which are capable of developing complex patterns Source Link Tartan is a balanced weave, meaning its warp and weft are the same yarn. The development of the concept of "fine arts" has lead to weaving being more closely associated with applied arts. The bias of fine art over applied art was solidified by the industrial revolution, leading to the art of weaving being neglected. Source Link The Kiryu silk weaving district was one of the most advanced silk weaving districts in Japan's Tokugawa period (1603-1868) Introduction of the power loom in this area beginning in the 1910s and coincided with the adoption of the factory system in Japan. Hand looms dominated production before the introduct...

I've tried dyeing fabric with black tea before, but it wasn't very concentrated and did not make a significant difference. This time was so much better though, and I love the muted brown.  Next was berries! There's a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, and cherries. I was worried it would end up being too light so I may have gone a little overboard with the berries, but man I got some good results. About 45 minutes into the dye bath I took a few out to dry. The remaining fabric is going to be left overnight as an experiment to see if it changes the saturation. Out of all the processes I've tried so far, berries are my favorite. One piece came out being this gorgeous violet while all the other pieces had more pink. This piece is the fabric piece all the way to the left on the line. Lighting changed it to be even more purple. I have no clue how this happened, but I'm happy it did.

Dye session one was so fun, I kinda forgot to take process photos while I was actually dyeing the fabric. Got a little too excited, but there will be pictures for round two. What I do have pictures of is the drying process and final product. Had to get creative with a clothesline, so I strung one up with some yarn in my shower, but then I kinda needed to take a shower and they weren't done drying so we improvised again and just moved it across the bathroom. Inconvenient, but it works. Once these beauties were done drying, I went to iron out some of the wrinkles. The two methods I chose were turmeric and avocado, which made some beautiful colors, but did leave some extras behind. The avocado stains aren't very noticeable, so I left them, but the excess turmeric bothered me, so I rinsed them out again, making sure to scrub all the spices off before hanging them up to dry again. I'm very happy with my finished pieces. Experimenting with different fol...