The word ‘shibori’ (絞り)comes from the Japanese verb ‘shiboru’ - meaning roughly “to wring, to bind, to compress”. Textile artists call it ‘shaped-resist dyeing’ - a very technical term. In short we create pattern when we apply pressure to the cloth in order to stop the dye from getting into certain areas.

First our fabric is manipulated into rather satisfying and sculptural 3D shapes. Then these little bundles of white and shadow are immersed in a dye vat.

The dye bleeds into the cloth and creates a softness on the edges of the design, unable to get into the bits that have been scrunched, stitched, bound or pleated.  There is a delicate relationship between cloth and the appearance of dyes.

In shibori we allow the nature of the fabric to express itself, working in harmony with it. It is a conversation with cloth. We allow the beauty of that fabric to express itself.

As the legendary scholar and artist Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada eloquently explains;-

“It is the memory of the shape that remains imprinted in the cloth.”

Shaped-resist dyeing is by no means an exclusively Japanese tradition. Africa also has a rich tradition for shaped-resist dyeing. However there are some patterns and methods that are distinctly Japanese.